Is this the end of the line for ASBOs?

Some people have been quick to point out that the leniency shown against a whole string of crimes committed by James Moore demonstrates the weakness of the Asbo regime. It does that all right.

More importantly it emphasises yet again the inability of our judicial system to nip problems in the bud before they become serious. Asbos are a case in point.

But the failure to enforce Asbos is a mere sign of the disrespect shown to the majority of decent citizens through our lenient judicial system.

Anti Social Behaviour Orders were designed by New Labour specifically to deal with the low grade terrorism of unruly youths or neighbours from hell.

Now, with an election approaching, is the time to think hard about supplementing or even replacing Asbos? I argued before the 1997 election that Labour should not adopt this approach.

What I proposed was to give local communities the power to take these yobboes to court, themselves, and immediately.

Neighbours can, in fact, already apply for a warrant, and for the warrant to be granted.

Neighbours are then told by the magistrates that they (the magistrates) do not have the power to instruct the police to enforce the warrant because it results from a private action.

I have argued for a small change in the law which would give 'policing' powers back to the community themselves. Magistrates should have the discretion to enforce these community-demanded warrants.

No longer would neighbours, whose lives are being destroyed, have to argue their case before well meaning do-gooding middle class people who decide if an Asbo is appropriate. The community would have the right to go into the court that day and have any warrant that is granted immediately enforced.

It wouldn't take very long for the yobs to realise that the centre of power had shifted from them to those citizens who know when enough is enough.

Such a reform would not cost any money - it might even save a great deal. It would also restore order to our streets by giving decent citizens the power to threaten yobboes with an immediate court appearance." BOB Croxton, of Broadgreen, is an ex-offender who launched the CELLS project, a mobile dummy prison cell to bring the reality of prison home to youngsters at risk of falling into a life of crime.

"Asbos were designed for the right reasons but because of the sheer abundance of Asbos it's become an unmanageable project.

AGAINST: Croxford The whole Asbo concept and administration has now got out of control and is in danger of failing to live up to the good intentions from when it was started over 10 years ago.

You're saying to a person 'There's your Asbo conditions, and we expect you to adhere to those conditions' - and then they move on to the next person.

The Asbo system is all a mess.

It was built with all the right intentions, and the authorities are trying to manage it. But they've created something that's unmanageable, even though people are doing their best to try.

They're giving out Asbos for kids throwing snowballs. When we were kids we were throwing snowballs and it wasn''t anti-social behaviour, it was a bit of fun in the snow. Now it's Asbos for everything: we've all gone a bit Asbo-crazy."

Date added: Wednesday 3rd February 2010
Latest updated: Monday 26th July 2010