Hi Ian,
Well if I am being charitable, I could say that this story is at least a useful reminder for UK drone pilots that they must register their drones and they must follow the drone code. Unfortunately there is a very small minority that persist in doing stupid things with their drones and if they don't wise-up then the whole drone community will suffer further restrictions. An analogy for drone misuse is a typical drive on the motorway - thousands of drivers following the rules of the road and driving safely but every now and again along comes a complete d*ck swerving through all the lanes...
For the newspapers this is just a page filler 'story'. At least the 'journalists' on this article aren't inciting racist anti-immigrant sentiments with yet another 'they are flocking over here stealing our jobs' story.
Is this new 'Police Drone Task Force' a good use of Police time? Just yesterday the news headlines here were that the statistics on rape prosecutions have dropped to an all time low. Last year just 3% of reported rapes resulted in a court appearance down from 30% when statistics were published a few years ago. My conclusion is that the Police have got their priorities and their use of valuable resources wrong - again.
The cynic in me would say that if you are planning on nipping out with your kit of cable ties and ski mask then for goodness sake leave your drone at home otherwise they will be down on you like a ton of bricks...