Battle with boozers hasn’t been won yet

12:50pm Tuesday 29th January 2013 in News By Scott D'Arcy

David Coutts, left, and Andrew Dunn at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Friday David Coutts, left, and Andrew Dunn at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Friday

POLICE have said they will not rest until the scourge of nuisance street drinkers has been cleared from the town centre.

Operation Arcadia, an initiative to combat the huge spike in anti-social behaviour caused by a group regularly drinking in public, came to a head on Friday when the three most prolific offenders were handed indefinite anti-social behaviour orders.

David Coutts, Andrew Dunn and Kevin Wolton were all banned from drinking alcohol in the town centre and Old Town, being in a group of more than three people and from entering the bus station.

But while the police operation has been successful in reducing the reports of nuisance behaviour to just five in December, this month there has been a rise in reports and several new street drinkers identified, with some coming in from Cheltenham, Gloucester and Trowbridge.

Town centre police have said they are now set to take ASBO action against a further four people and also use neighbourhood justice panels, a Ministry of Justice pilot scheme, for the lesser troublemakers.

Sgt Barry Reed said: “We were pleased with the three ASBOs given by magistrates on Friday but our work is not finished.

“We have seen a slight rise this month in activity around the bus station, with some new members of the group being identified.

“We understand some have come from as far as Cheltenham or Gloucester, as well as Trowbridge, and this may be because they have had to leave their areas or think they may avoid police attention.

“We have so far this month had 10 calls regarding anti-social behaviour at the bus station and we are pursuing around 13 people and at the moment are looking to progress another four ASBOs.

“The others will go before the neighbourhood justice panels, which have been successful in the past.”

Frances Maples, Swindon Council borough solicitor, who prosecuted the three ASBOs last week, said: “I am glad the public interest has been put first and particularly welcome the banning order in respect of the bus station area with regard to the disorder caused there.

“These were part of a wider strategy, with more applications to come against identified individuals.”

Anyone with any information about anti-social behaviour should contact the town centre neighbourhood policing team on 101.

Comments(9)

Sashstaff says...
12:55pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Well to be fair, so long as they are alcohol dependant, they are going to drink somewhere, probably in public if they are homeless.

Perhaps a more positive strategy would be to offer them somewhere safe to drink or to offer them real, consistent support??

They are not going to just to disappear.

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house on the hill says...
1:31pm Tue 29 Jan 13

ASBO's are a complete waste of time, even more so to these types. They have an addiction that needs to be treated and no "orders" are going to change that! A complete waste of taxpayers money yet again.

The problem with offering support is they have to want it and I dont think many do. I dont pretend to have the knowledge to suggest what should be done, but this is most definitely not it. This will be an increasing problem so a solution needs to be found.

I guess it all helps the Police crime figures without actually solving the problem!

But then with the Court of Appeal finding today that CRB checks breach human rights, clearly the Courts have gone stark raving bonkers and have now completely lost their grip on reality (how many £millions do we spend looking after terrorists who claim the human rights act to stay here!).

How long before they are all back drinking in public again I wonder?

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benzss says...
1:52pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Sashstaff wrote:
Well to be fair, so long as they are alcohol dependant, they are going to drink somewhere, probably in public if they are homeless. Perhaps a more positive strategy would be to offer them somewhere safe to drink or to offer them real, consistent support?? They are not going to just to disappear.
This is a good shout. Has been done before in drugs semi-amnesties. Not to mention in The Wire...

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DVopinion says...
2:07pm Tue 29 Jan 13

The ruling on CRB checks makes sense. In many countries if the crime was minor (say a max sentence of 6 to 12 months), the criminal record gets dropped, as in the case of Germany/Netherlands, in as little as 3 years.

Why should someone have to wait to their 100th birthday to have their CRB cleared?

The Police and the Home Sec want it all in the name of public safety. The UK wants to leave the EU? People forget the positive things the EU has imposed on the UK to make life better, but focus on the perceived negatives like sausages or crisps Good luck to anyone who votes to leave the EU.

They can queue up for work permits in other EU countries while the Irish, Germans, and French just "walk on by"

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Davey Gravey says...
2:20pm Tue 29 Jan 13

There will always be drunks as long as there is alcohol. Has gone on forever and will only continue

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roberto5 says...
3:30pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Even with this ban not too long ago I saw Kev Walton swaggering drunk right through the town centre, these bans DONT work.

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LordAshOfTheBrake says...
6:18pm Tue 29 Jan 13

I guess the real question is how much money gets put into helping people that do not want to help themselves.

Personally I'd rather support services went to people who are prepared to make the most of it.

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Tim Newroman says...
7:02pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Sashstaff wrote:
Well to be fair, so long as they are alcohol dependant, they are going to drink somewhere, probably in public if they are homeless.

Perhaps a more positive strategy would be to offer them somewhere safe to drink or to offer them real, consistent support??

They are not going to just to disappear.
Sounds like a clear case of a lengthy spell in prison being necessary to break that alcohol dependence.

I agree with all of the comments above, ASBOs don't work and are ignored at by at least 56% of people who are given them (Home Office figures).

Pretty much a complete waste of time and money, then.

Oddly, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has been banging on about scrapping these worthless pieces of paper since 2010 and yet they still seem to be alive and (un)well.

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RichardR1 says...
7:14pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Never mind the CRB case the ECHR which DVopinion I assume believes is a good thing has ordered the Government to pay compensation to a rapist because his parole review didn't take place quickly enough.

No matter the victim was only 14 and he's only been inside about 7 years.

As for drunks, reality is that a desire to stop is the only 'cure'.

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