Dear Sir,

ASBOs are often misinterpreted as a punishment for a criminal offence. In fact they are a temporary injunction that can stop a certain antisocial activity. Breaking this injunction can then be a criminal offence. To quote from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, – it is behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator.

This involves graffiti, abusive and intimidating language, too often directed at minorities, excessive noise, particularly late at night, fouling the street with litter, drunken behaviour in the streets, and the mess it creates and dealing drugs.
Continued…