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Unreliable Evidence

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Crime & Justice

Series exploring and analysing the legal issues of the day

Unreliable Evidence: Anti-Social Behaviour

Anti-Social Behaviour

BBC Radio 4 - Unreliable Evidence, Anti-Social Behaviour

Clive Anderson and guests ask whether laws to tackle anti-social behaviour are working.

Clive Anderson and guests ask if anti-social behaviour law is vital for curbing, or a disproportionate, discriminatory response to, behaviour that is not criminal.

How should the law respond to behaviour which causes harm or distress to the public, but isn’t actually criminal?

Clive Anderson and guests discuss Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) and other measures to tackle anti-social behaviour. Are they vital for curbing public nuisance - or a disproportionate, discriminatory response to behaviour which isn’t criminal?

CBOs were introduced in 2014 to replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. Imposed by a magistrate or a judge once someone has been convicted of a crime, they can be used to control all sorts of behaviour - from aggressive begging, to domestic abuse, prank calls to persistent shoplifting. They can, for example, prevent people from entering specific areas of town, stop them from associating with particular individuals, or compel them to enter a treatment programme for addiction. Their use is increasing year on year, and Andy Prophet, Assistant Chief Constable for Essex Police, argues they are a valuable tool that helps keep our streets safe.

One of the most high-profile uses of a CBO was in June 2018, when five members of the 1011 gang in west London were banned from making drill music – a type of rap which Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has blamed for fuelling murders and violent crime in London. Melanie Simpson was the barrister representing members of 1011 in court and she says that, far from keeping crime under control, these CBOs add to the alienation that causes crime and anti-social behaviour in the first place. Along with youth justice solicitor Greg Stewart, she believes the orders are too onerous, setting people up to fail and, too often, leading to time in prison. In 2018, more than 3000 people were convicted of breaching their CBO and roughly a third received an immediate custodial sentence as a consequence. 

The programme also hears allegations that the use of CBOs and other anti-social behaviour measures unfairly targets young, black men living in deprived urban areas. 

Producer: Hannah Marshall
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4

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