'AITA for not reporting a trespasser, against my wife's wishes?'

"AITA for not reporting a trespasser, against my wife's wishes?"

So me (45M) and my wife (49F) live in the country side in the UK. We have a field and some wooded areas on our property. The wooded section is right next to a public footpath but is separated by a small fence with (I'll admit old and dried up) anti-climb paint.

Now the issue is we have cameras and I've noticed a teenager (maybe 17-19M) with a dog regularly hops the fence, walks through the wooded part and likes to sit In a small grassy clearing.

I honestly don't have much of an issue with it. The dog is well behaved, returns when he calls them and likes to just lay by the kid and receive fuss. The kid himself just sits on his phone or sometimes brings a book or two and reads. If the kids does smoke or drink he's respectful enough not to do it on my property.

I don't watch him on the cameras but I check them every now and them and see him. Once he came alone and just sat there screaming and crying for about an hour (Checked back an hour later and he was still there, still crying). He's respectful and this place seems like a quiet space he can go to so I don't see any harm in letting him.

My wife disagrees. She thinks we should be calling the police and reporting the trespassing. When I point out the kid isn't doing any harm, picks up after the dog and it's not like we use this area, she says it doesn't matter, trespassing is trespassing.

She won't report it if I don't want to but she still thinks I'm an idiot and an ahole for not. And she wants me to but I won't. I get where my wife is coming from, but the kid's not hurting the land or anyone. So AITA?

Here's what people had to say to OP:

CuteYou676 said:

NTA. I understand your wife's stance, but the kid obviously needs someplace private to come and decompress. He's respectful and cleans up after himself; that's better than most adults! As long as he and his dog are the only ones there, and there is no problem with trash or destruction, I'd let it be. Maybe go out and have a chat with him, so that he's aware that 1) there are cameras and 2) they are monitored.

Jamestodd106 said:

Nta. And you should tell your wife that trespassing in the UK is a civil matter not a criminal one unless he causes damages to the property. the police won't really do anything you haven't asked the boy to leave your property so he hasn't refused to so he's really doing nothing wrong and hurting no one.

DJ4116 said:

Not going to lie, I was on your wife’s side until you described what "the trespasser" does. It sounds like he uses it as a safe place. He’s not vandalizing it….I don’t see the need to contact authorities. NTA.

Zyrr2 said:

NTA. Maybe invite the kid for a cup of tea, so he is no stranger anymore.

waywardjynx said:

He's not hurting anything, he is being respectful, he isn't doing drugs. His secret spot may be an escape from unhappy home life. It brings him joy. It costs nothing to be kind. If he showed up alone crying...have you seen the dog since? I'm worried he lost his buddy. NTA It's your property too and he's not being a nuisance.

NocturnalHabits said:

NTA. But I think you need to examine why your wife feels the need to enforce "the rules" without further consideration. I imagine that an somewhat abusive education tends to instill that attitude; that a child growing up under volatile parents might learn to cling to "the rules" for relative safety.