Hooligans could face up to two years behind bars for breaching new “respect orders” introduced to “crack down on antisocial behaviour”.
The measures were first set out in Labour’s manifesto in a bid to “return law and order to our streets” and address the worst behaviour.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will grant new powers to police, allowing them to hand out Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs).
Additionally, Cooper will assign powers to local councils, as well as police officers, to ban persistent offenders from town centres, and drinking in public areas, including high streets and community parks.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will grant new powers to police today, allowing them to hand out Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
PA
Police will also be given additional powers to seize vehicles – without prior notice – which are connected to those who exhibit anti-social behaviour.
This change would affect those who ride e-scooters dangerously along pavements, as well as off-road bikes.
Courts will be able to give out unlimited fines, as well as order offenders to carry out unpaid work or receive a curfew.
The Home Secretary has said that too much of Britain has been “plagued by anti-social behaviour”, which “chips away at communities’ sense of confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims.”
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She declared: “This cannot be allowed to continue.”
The plans announced today will compose part of the Crime and Policing Bill which, if passed, will seek to nip the worst behaviour in the bud.
Offenders might also be advised to receive drug and alcohol treatment or attend anger management classes to address the root causes of anti-social behaviour.
To address the root causes of their behaviour, perpetrators could also be told to attend anger management classes or receive drug and alcohol treatment.
Yvette Cooper has said the new measures would ensure that the “most serious offenders are dealt with before their behaviour can escalate and cause further harm”
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Yvette Cooper has said the new measures would ensure that the “most serious offenders are dealt with before their behaviour can escalate and cause further harm”.
She said: “Too many town centres and neighbourhoods across our country are being plagued by antisocial behaviour, be it street drinking, harassment or vandalism on the high street or noisy and intimidating off-road bikes terrorising our estates.
“Antisocial behaviour chips away at communities’ sense of confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims …
“Respect orders will give police and councils the powers they need to crack down on repeated antisocial behaviour.”
In September 2023, it was reported that the police received one million reports of antisocial behaviour in the previous 12 months.