Golden Compass star condemned for snowman attack (From The Argus)

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Golden Compass star condemned for snowman attack

8:04am Wednesday 9th April 2008

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By Ben Parsons »

She has shared the screen with Oscar winners and become the envy of every Sussex schoolgirl.

But the part Dakota Blue Richards played in knocking down a community's favourite snowman won her less than favourable reviews.

The star of blockbuster movie The Golden Compass was with a group that kicked to pieces a snowman and snow dog that brought a neighbourhood together in the weekend's wintry weather.

Miss Richards has admitted she and her friends knocked them down as part of a game.

The 13-year-old's agent said the incident had been taken the wrong way.

Abe Resteto, 40, was working at the David's News corner shop in Livingstone Road, Hove, when thick snow fell across the county.

When he and a friend began to build the snowman, people in the street bonded around the project, with passers-by pitching in to help.

He said: "We put our heart and soul into that snowman.

"People were coming up and giving us stuff like coal for the eyes. A little girl brought the carrot.

"It was a real team effort."

Passers-by stopped to take photographs and the snowman's proud creators sent them to The Argus to help our coverage of the day's snowy fun.

Mr Resteto said: "It was an amazing day.

"We were taking the snow off the roofs of cars.

"The neighbours got involved. People driving by must have taken about 50 photographs of this snowman."

But after 6pm a group of girls arrived and set about destroying the community's handiwork.

Mr Resteto said there was no mistaking the famous child star among the gang.

He said: "She comes into the shop.

"I know who she is. I just treat her like another customer.

"For the day to end the way it did was sad."

Miss Richards was recently featured in The Argus returning to her old school, St Paul's Primary in Brighton.

Mr Resteto said: "I got two copies of The Argus to get an autograph from her.

"Now I don't even want her autograph.

"She went from cool to uncool in a very short space of time."

But a spokeswoman for Miss Richards's agents, ARG Ltd in London, said: "It was a game that obviously somewhere along the way went awry.

"It was not done with malicious intent at all."

Miss Richards is appearing at the Brighton Children's Book Festival on Saturday April 19 to answer questions from the audience about her role in The Golden Compass, an adaptation of the first volume of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.

She was chosen ahead of 10,000 rivals for the part of Lyra Belacqua, acting alongside Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman and James Bond star Daniel Craig.

Her next film, The Secret of Moonacre, also starring Tim Curry and Juliet Stevenson, is due to be released in August this year.

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Simon, Brighton says...
8:33am Wed 9 Apr 08

Yes it might've been destructive, but snowmen/snowdogs(?) are temporary anyway.

None really lasted much more than a day anyway.

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SS, Brighton says...
8:40am Wed 9 Apr 08

It's only a snowman, not the end off the world. Kids will do those kind of things.

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Deano, NorthPole says...
8:41am Wed 9 Apr 08

What a stupid story.
"We put our heart and soul into that snowman." For god's sake it was the building of a snowman not the Empire State Building! Mr Restesto sounds like a right old drama queen.....

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mark, brighton says...
8:42am Wed 9 Apr 08

yes call the police, sorry this story is not great, the thing was probably melting anyway!! as for it bringing the comunity together!! thats just padding to make her look bad, the best news was kids out enjoying themselves, rather than being on a computer.

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nick, says...
8:50am Wed 9 Apr 08

A snowman viciously kicked and stamped to the ground by young kids - no doubt wearing hoddies. Shameful - lock 'em up.
My god, this is actually news! Rubbish paper.

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Ivor Snowflake, Lapland says...
9:00am Wed 9 Apr 08

What's the difference between a snow man and a snow woman? Snowballs...!

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!!!, Brighton says...
9:11am Wed 9 Apr 08

Deano wrote:
What a stupid story. "We put our heart and soul into that snowman." For god's sake it was the building of a snowman not the Empire State Building! Mr Restesto sounds like a right old drama queen.....

Kids having fun with snow - I'd do the same, and I'm 40, for God's sake. Wonder if this story will make the 'red tops'??? Hardly a major criminal offence, and they are just school kids after all. Mr Restesto...get a forkin' life, mate!!!

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Andy R, Hove says...
9:11am Wed 9 Apr 08

Snowmen in Wish Park were being royally demolished by kids most of Sunday afternoon, in keeping with tradition. No point in building a snowman if you're not going to have the fun of knocking it down! When Mr Resteto was eulogising to the Argus was the Simon Bates "Our Tune" music playing in the background?

Mind you, I have to admire his enterprise - a PAID advert for his business would have cost him thousands.

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Moon Pig, Brighton says...
9:17am Wed 9 Apr 08

Oh my goodness.... get a grip, this is NOT news...
She's a 13 year old girl for god's sake, can't she be normal without someone reporting her to the local rag...

a snowman, ffs!!! Seriously!!!

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Ben Martin, Brighton says...
9:17am Wed 9 Apr 08

The community's favourite snowman?

Was there a vote?

What about snowmen of yesteryear?

I'm surprised the Argus didn't write that the 'snow dog' was 'kicked to death.'

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Roz, Hove says...
9:54am Wed 9 Apr 08

The people who have been affected by this act of wanton destruction must receive immediate counselling at the taxpayers expense.

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Sharon, brighton says...
10:01am Wed 9 Apr 08

Favourable reviews? Isn't this showing how a girl who has been in an oscar winning film can lead a normal life? This is a typical thing for children to do. I'm sure loads of kid's were smashing down snowmen, why weren't they reported? This man seems like he has nothing better to do, get a life mate.

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englishmanabroad, dubai says...
10:20am Wed 9 Apr 08

This is a pathetic attempt to make a sensational story out of nothing. It shames this paper.

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Rob, Hove says...
10:30am Wed 9 Apr 08

Why does the Argus insist on embarrassing itself on an almost daily basis with stories like this?
I read this online version once a week purely for the comedy value that is its journalistic ineptitude.
In the event that news is thin, just dont write anything.

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Agent, Brighton says...
10:49am Wed 9 Apr 08

The other child potentials must have been really rubbish as I found her portrayal of Lyra one of the worst things about the film.

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Bob D, Brighton says...
10:57am Wed 9 Apr 08

"She went from cool to uncool in a very short space of time." As did the snowman! Haha! Sorry.

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Dave, Hove says...
11:01am Wed 9 Apr 08

How on earth did a story like this make it into our local paper? Seriously, this is utter rubbish. What next, "Shock Horror As Extra From Some Random Movie Steps On A Snail". Come on for Gods sake start doing your jobs and write about real issues not this inane drivel.

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Film Buff, Lewes says...
11:05am Wed 9 Apr 08

Agent wrote:
The other child potentials must have been really rubbish as I found her portrayal of Lyra one of the worst things about the film.

I thought she was quite good, actually. She certainly looked like how I imagined Lyra to look. I agree with a comment above. I want her number when she's 18 too.

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Dave, Hove says...
11:22am Wed 9 Apr 08

A few comments here.
1) I live round the corner. they stuck the fricken snow man in front of the door. If I had been blind then I could have been frozen to death.
Or the carrot could have poked my eye out. I hope they did a full heath and saftey check first.*tounge firmly in cheek*
2) Her name is irelivent, some people are different and choose different names..stop being a snob, let it be.
3) This story is above the drug story in most hits? Yeah..thats right, Kids playing in snow is worse then drug dealers on streets in the view off argus readers...Sad..very sad..
2)

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juggler, Hove says...
11:43am Wed 9 Apr 08

Good to see the Argus tackling the issues that blight our streets.
It has also been rumoured that some kids were THROWING SNOWBALLS on Sunday.
How irresponsible, endangering our community that had already had the very heart ripped out of it by the brutal assassination of the snowman.

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Grace, Hove says...
12:48pm Wed 9 Apr 08

This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. Just goes to show what a terrible newspaper this is. Actually get some news that people want to read about. Not about children knocking over a snowman which would have melted away anyway. Mr Resteto, you seriously need to get over yourself. You haven't succeeded in making Dakota and her friends look like yobs. It's what teens do, surely you should know that?

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JJ, Worthing says...
1:40pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Dave from Hove has got the wrong end of the stick yet again..assuming that we all care more about this than drug dealers, most of the posts are response to how unewsworthy this is and that indeed there are more imporatant things than a snowman out there, And although her name may be irrelevant it stands out as ridciculous, more a case of her snobby parents trying to set her apart from the rif raff rather than us being snobby about her.

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Dave, Hove says...
2:09pm Wed 9 Apr 08

JJ wrote:
Dave from Hove has got the wrong end of the stick yet again..assuming that we all care more about this than drug dealers, most of the posts are response to how unewsworthy this is and that indeed there are more imporatant things than a snowman out there, And although her name may be irrelevant it stands out as ridciculous, more a case of her snobby parents trying to set her apart from the rif raff rather than us being snobby about her.

JJ, My post was all very tounge in cheek.
I apoligiese if I offened *anyone*.The fact that Riff Raff is in your vocabulary makes me giggle.
I have a friend called Dakota who has great parents-but If im using your logic I have to make a short phone call and tell them to stop being so snobby. Make tea not War JJ :)

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Alex, Preston Park says...
3:14pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Wonderful work, most read. Is it a deliberate tactic to produce the crappest story you can in order to get comments?

It is common on message boards to say something just to get a response (I don't need to mention that here I am sure) but for the paper to do it...genius!

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Pot Noodle, Saltdean says...
3:16pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Oh dear, the "Argues" does it again....you have got to laugh. Really scraping the barrel this time. Surprised they didn't try and get a quote from "Walking in the Air" Aled Jones! What a sad and I use the term loosely... "news" paper. Bet Dakota is totally gutted Mr Risotto doesn't want her autograph!

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The Wombat, Zog says...
3:21pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Perhaps it was childish high spirits, but, unfortunately, it is symptomatic of today's kids. Destroy somebody else's work, property etc..

All I see from the kids representatives are 'taken the wrong way', 'obviously a game gone awry', 'not malicious'.

What I don't see is 'she is sorry'.

Nah, be apologists for the sad little git, so she can get used to being a real 'star'.

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John Laughrlot, London says...
3:37pm Wed 9 Apr 08

I still cannot come to terms with this terrible, terrible loss. The snowman was kind, warm and generous and touched the heart of anyone who knew him. That snowman was the Snowman of Hearts and was loved by all, young and old alike. I propose that BHCC build a memorial to commemorate him.

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sad, says...
4:30pm Wed 9 Apr 08

What a story.

she is a 13 year old kid, who like other 13 year old kids makes mistakes and sometimes gets things wrong.

Just leave her alone. Bully someone else.

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Ice Queen, Hove says...
5:06pm Wed 9 Apr 08

The Wombat wrote:
Perhaps it was childish high spirits, but, unfortunately, it is symptomatic of today's kids. Destroy somebody else's work, property etc..

All I see from the kids representatives are 'taken the wrong way', 'obviously a game gone awry', 'not malicious'.

What I don't see is 'she is sorry'.

Nah, be apologists for the sad little git, so she can get used to being a real 'star'.

at last! a comment I agree with! it was only a snowman that would melt, but would it be some ornaments next, or a parked car? Or flower beds?

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Lord Asriel, Svalbard says...
7:08pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Ice Queen wrote:

The Wombat wrote:
Perhaps it was childish high spirits, but, unfortunately, it is symptomatic of today\'s kids. Destroy somebody else\'s work, property etc..

All I see from the kids representatives are \'taken the wrong way\', \'obviously a game gone awry\', \'not malicious\'.

What I don\'t see is \'she is sorry\'.

Nah, be apologists for the sad little git, so she can get used to being a real \'star\'.
at last! a comment I agree with! it was only a snowman that would melt, but would it be some ornaments next, or a parked car? Or flower beds?

yeah she looks the sort that would vandalise the neighbourhood.....qu

antum leap or what?

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dave the builder, newhaven says...
7:26pm Wed 9 Apr 08

if this is the kind of story the paper is getting, then i shall not buy the argus in future, i shall read it for free online and buy another paper for my lunch breaks. ill give you another chance, but i refuse to buy for 2 weeks after this. well done argus, you just lost yourselves £4.56. and i hope others follow suit to teach you a lesson.

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Chloe, HOVE says...
8:02pm Wed 9 Apr 08

This has to be the most pathetic article i have ever read. How this can even be in the Argus is ridiculous. It's the most stupid story ever. i'm pretty sure most teenagers do the same and just because the girl who did it is famous it gets put into a newpaper. It is been made to look a lot more dramatic then it actually is. and half the stuff that was said was lies. Abe must be stupid and childish to seriously get this published into a newpaper and he should just get over it.

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Bum, says...
8:05pm Wed 9 Apr 08

She's a child . . children make mastakes that's how they learn. I think it's flipping hallarius. By the way snow melts so i hate to break it to you but the preshous snow man was about to go bye bye anyway!

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Flat Foot Soozie, Brunswick Square says...
9:05pm Wed 9 Apr 08

I think that the Compass films look like going the way of the snowman. The second two will not be made.

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ELLIE, BRIGHTON says...
9:38pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Sorry but this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever read in my whole life. It wasn't just Dakota, there was a group of them, yet everything is being completely blamed on Dakota, just because shes famous? I think you all need to leave her alone, jealousy is blatently what causes your pathetic hatred towards her. You are all implying how pathetic Dakota is, but your all still being childish and making fun of her name? And Abe, this is the most pathetic and childish story you could have sent to the argus, it just shows how jealous you really are that a 13 year old has a better life style than a 40 year old man who works in a shop and probably cries about the fact that his snowman got 'kicked to death'. Overall i think the argus is stupid for publishing such a pathetic article and i think Abe is just seeking attention.

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john, says...
11:08pm Wed 9 Apr 08

"The neighbours got involved. People driving by must have taken about 50 photographs of this snowman."

Strangely the only photo they could muster was a half melted pile of snow. What a non story.

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andy, brighton says...
11:46pm Wed 9 Apr 08

Think i will have to start buying the Argus again, I'd forgotten how much it used to make me laugh, and now it seems to be capable of outright hilarity!!

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Berberer+Um a sandara, NoneOfYourBeesWax says...
1:47pm Thu 10 Apr 08

Abe shouldn't have sold this in the first place so he has brought it upon himself.

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HampshireSeagulls, Portsmiff says...
7:07pm Thu 10 Apr 08

It's just a shame that the shop owner was bribed to prevent the name of the true criminal coming to light - Dean Wilkins. Allegedly he was trying to get Jake Robinson to dribble the ball down the street, and he was dispossessed by the snowman. In a fit of temper, he slid into the snowman, and took it out - and now he blames it on a schoolgirl with a made up name. No wonder they don't want that stadium built if it will be populated with snowman-assassins.

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LOL at that, London says...
11:32pm Thu 10 Apr 08

P.S. Id also like to enquire of the shopkeeper why exactly he claimed that items such as coals were donated for use as eyes when the picture of the snowman itself clearly shows two small green items being used for that purpose...surely this couldn't be yet another fabrication in this already absurd story?

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Caroline, says...
4:47pm Sat 12 Apr 08

This is totally ridiculous. Only two-year-olds get upset when their snowmen are destroyed. And all these comments made me laugh too. They really need to print some more worthy news.

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Steven, Hove says...
7:12pm Mon 14 Apr 08

Not a slow news day by any chance?

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doc martin, Brighton says...
9:58pm Wed 16 Apr 08

funniest thing in the world! shes only having a bit of fun and she isnt a yob some people dont know what yob means. some people seriously need to relax

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olyvia scott, fairburn, georgia, usa says...
9:27pm Sun 20 Apr 08

omigosh this is sooo stupid!!! if i was dakota and i read one of these reviews i'd be like "dude. it's just a snowman! you can make another one of those!!!" i mean, come ON, dude. this is silly. it's WATER.

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Joe Schmo, says...
1:50am Thu 24 Apr 08

hahahahahahhahahahah

ahahaha
what a retard!
Its a frickin snowman. What're we gonna do? make a grave? Have a funeral?

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Rosie, Los Angeles, CA says...
10:53pm Thu 24 Apr 08

Good grief! The press is actually making a big deal of a child actress and some of her neighborhood friends knocking down a snowman?

Oh dear God! Western civilization, as we know it, has come to an end.

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Loki, Earth says...
10:06pm Tue 29 Apr 08

What a load of rubbish. It was a flipping snowman, for crist's sake! So, what are they gonna do? This newspaper sucks. And I am a very big fan of Dakota's, so I am doubly **** at these idiots. Who runs this newspaper? The editor is probably celebrating his own decay now, 'cause his writers won't do any better than this, but demand their ten dollars a week anyway. So, that's all I have to say. Screw the Argus.

Sincerely Yours,
Captain Will Halloway.

PS. Argus is a monster, so I know how this newspaper got it's name. Haha!

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danielle, new york says...
10:42pm Wed 30 Apr 08

COME ON PEOPLE! shes 13 for one && shes never done anything bad! if the worst thing this kid ever does is knock down a snowman i mean i think thats ok...besides she was with a GROUP why is dakota being blamed for the whole thing?! i mean seriouslyy...think about it! I cant believe people are actually paying so much attention to this

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LOL at this., UK says...
5:00pm Tue 6 May 08

I'd just like to congratulate Mr Ben Parsons on creating the most hysterically stupid article in recorded history. Thanks must also go to Mr Abe Resteto for being so incomprehensibly petty as to present this occurrence as "news".

On a less scathing note: Dakota, if you've read this, assuming you aren't still laughing, please don't devote any measure of your life to taking it even remotely seriously. You could mercilessly slaughter a whole plethora of snowmen and/or snow-women/children for all I (and, it seems, many others) care.

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