Latest news with #anti-social behaviour
BBC News
20 hours ago
- BBC News
Norfolk Police given £1m to target anti-social 'hotspots'
A police force has been given £1m to improve efforts to tackle anti-social Op Focus scheme, funded by the government, allowed Norfolk Police to add extra patrols in "hotspots" of Great Yarmouth and Norwich when it was launched in May scheme is now being extended to 21 areas across the Sutherland Lane said: "We are often told how the public would like to see more officers patrolling the streets in their local areas, so I am really pleased that we will be able to continue to deliver this for the next year." The hotspots within Norwich include the market, Chantry, Prince of Wales Road and afield, the hotspots include King's Lynn West and East, Downham Market town centre, Dereham town centre, Thetford town centre, Thetford Abbey, Thetford Pine, Diss town centre, Britannia Pier, Gorleston town centre, Nelson Road South, St George's Park, Great Yarmouth seafront, Great Yarmouth Market Place and Howard force said as a result of the scheme, officers had made 198 arrests, conducted 122 stop and searches and seized 17 Lane said: "Targeted hotspot patrols are key to disrupting and preventing crime as well as engaging with our local communities. "This additional funding gives us the opportunity to focus our resources in areas where serious violence and anti-social behaviour is having a direct impact on the quality of life of residents and businesses." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
New £100 fines to tackle bad behaviour in Swindon town centre
New powers to tackle anti-social behaviour are to be rolled out in central Swindon, with the authorities now able to issue on-the-spot Public Spaces Protection Order gives police and community wardens the power to issue a £100 fixed penalty notice for anti-social behaviour, and coincides with a Wiltshire Police crackdown on Jim Grant said it was in response to concerns of some residents, who he said felt scared of going to the town centre because of drunkenness, harassment and illegal Borough Council said it was part of a range of measures which aimed to make the centre more appealing to residents and investors. "No-one's going to come if there are people drinking in the streets, drug dealing, women and girls being harassed, so we are addressing that," said Mr Grant, who is the council's cabinet member for communities. The council said reports of anti-social behaviour had dropped since the Swindon safety warden team started work a year order will now give them the ability to issue £100 fines to people caught drinking or being abusive in the town centre. "Sometimes people aren't going to want to give us names and addresses, but if they don't they can be taken to court," community warden Bradley Ellis said his team's interactions will be filmed on body-worn cameras, so people can be identified if they refuse to cooperate and leave the area."It's very satisfying knowing that you've done something in the town where you grew up and you can actually see a difference", Mr Ellis will also be handed out to people using e-scooters, which are illegal to use on public roads and only e-scooters which form part of government-backed trials can be used legally in the UK. There is no such trial in Wiltshire. Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said officers will spend a month stopping people using e-scooters in known hotspots, like Swindon town centre, and educating them on the law. They will then move to an "enforcement phase" at the beginning of August, with officers able to confiscate and destroy e-scooters and, where appropriate, e-bikes."E-scooters are illegal in Wiltshire, and we will make sure people know that", Mr Wilkinson added.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
‘Woo, the tenants are going today': Landlord who allegedly banged bowl with spoon ordered to pay €8,000
A landlord alleged to have stood in front of her tenants' home banging a bowl with a spoon and shouting 'Woo, the tenants are going today' has been ordered to pay more than €8,000 by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). In response the landlord told an RTB tribunal one of the tenants had been 'shooting 'scortty' looks' at her daughter. The tenancy tribunal found notices of termination on the grounds of anti-social behaviour served on tenants Megan Kellett and Jake Webster last August by landlords Janna Yore and Eric Yore were invalid. The tribunal heard that Ms Kellett and Mr Webster became tenants of a house in Carrigasimon, Lisduff, Virginia, Co Cavan in November 2020 and vacated the dwelling on September 1st 2024. The tenancy was never registered with the RTB. READ MORE Two seven-day notice of termination were served on the tenants on the grounds of anti-social behaviour, on August 5th and August 13th. Ms Kellett told the tribunal that between August 13th and September 1st, when she and Mr Webster vacated the property, a number of incidents occurred, including Ms Yore standing at their front door at 8am banging a bowl with a spoon and shouting 'Woo, the tenants are going today'; Mr Yore driving his ride-on mower around the house and sellotaping notices to their window alleging breach of tenant obligations; calls to An Garda Siochána by the landlords; and blocking the drive with bins. Ms Yore told the tribunal that before August of last year Ms Kellett had been intimidating the Yore's daughter by asking her not to ride her bike near the house. Ms Kellett had been shooting 'scortty' looks at her daughter Ms Yore said. On August 1st, Ms Yore said she was returning her horses to the stable and asked Ms Kellett to move so she could get by. According to the tribunal record Ms Yore said Ms Kellett refused and 'provoked her and assaulted her'. Ms Yore said at this point she told Ms Kellett she would be serving notice of termination because 'she could no longer tolerate this terrible situation' the tribunal heard. The following day there was a separate incident where Ms Kellett slammed a gate, Ms Yore said. Ms Yore denied standing outside the house banging a bowl with a spoon. She accepted the tenants' clothes line had been removed because Ms Yoke said 'it was spooking the horses' and she acknowledged an electric fence had been moved so the tenants would not have room to put up another clothesline. She said she called Garda because the tenants had made 'such a big deal of the clothesline being removed'. She said that she had 'performed a dance routine' when she found Ms Kellett videoing her. Mr Yore told the tribunal he had an 'informal arrangement' with the tenants and that was why the tenancy not registered with the RTB. He felt the tenants were 'always unhappy' because they had been unable to apply for a tax credit because the tenancy was unregistered. He denied unnecessarily riding around the house on his mower and said he was simply cutting the grass. The tribunal found the tenants were entitled to 180 days' notice based on their length of tenancy. It said that even if the landlords' evidence about the behaviour of the tenants was accepted, it did not meet the definition of anti-social behaviour and so the seven days' notice of termination was invalid. The tribunal has ordered the landlords to pay their former tenants damages of €7,200 for 'unlawful termination of their tenancy', €600 for overcharges in rent, €873.70 of deposit withheld and a €70 fuel credit.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Dorset Police campaign pledges patrols during summer
A police force has announced a summer campaign to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour using high-visibility patrols in popular Police said the school holidays in July and August were usually the "busiest time of the year" so it had launched its Good, Safe Summer said officers would use dispersal powers to direct people away from town centres and beachfronts if they acted in an anti-social and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said he was "confident" the force was prepared to tackle the extra demand. Police community support officers, special constables and local authority community safety patrol officers will also carrying out Supt Julie Howe said they were "committed in our efforts to ensure residents, business owners and visitors to Dorset feel safe and can enjoy their time here".Mr Sidwick said the message of the police and its partners was "very clear"."If you are coming to Dorset to cause harm or commit crime or anti-social behaviour, you are not welcome and will be dealt with swiftly and robustly," he said."I know the next few weeks are likely to be even busier than they have already, and I am confident the force is prepared to tackle the extra demand and ensure our area remains one of the safest places in the country." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Birmingham postcode where people 'poo, take drugs and sell sex' in streets
Fed-up residents are being pushed out of their homes in an inner city area plagued by anti-social behaviour - and it's only getting worse. Locals living in Handsworth for years said they are moving out, opting to rent their homes for money instead of putting up with the spiralling trouble marring the neighbourhood. It's an area that has, for years, been known for prostitution, but now people are even seen 'defecating, taking drugs and lying passed out in the streets' as its drug problem worsens. Read more: Brummies divided as century-old landmark set to vanish from Birmingham Co-ordinator of the Handsworth Community Action Group and resident of the area for over 40 years, Tariq Rashid, is among those battling against the escalating plethora of issues. He's now urging police to help enforce a Public Spaces Protection Order, PSPO, in place across Handsworth. Syringes are thrown into people's gardens and one man even stole a pair of shoes from Mr Rashid's porch in a burglary attempt late at night, he said. "It's becoming a nightmare now," Mr Rashid told BirminghamLive in an urgent bid for support. "This area has gone so bad, it's unbelievable. We've got a PSPO order here, I don't know how or why it's not being enforced. "You wouldn't believe the kinds of things we see on the top of Soho Road. Prostitution, drugs, people defecating on the street, it's just everything. "People are trying to walk out their house and there's people outside with their pants down, and you're thinking, 'what the hell?' What is the solution? I don't know." Problems have worsened since a number of HMOs emerged in the area, with "like-minded people" creating their own communities as they're placed together, Mr Rashid says. "They all seem to congregate around certain areas, there's people passed out at bus stops, issues at the top of the road with people hanging around, fly tipping. You name it, we've got it," he said. "You can't even walk on Soho Road, there's so much anti-social behaviour, everything's going on on Soho Road. "Everyone's fed up. Residents are up in arms, they don't know what to do." Resident WhatsApp groups are filled with posts from locals worried about their area, regularly posting warnings as they try to "look out for each other." Mr Rashid and the street watch team have a meeting with the MP this week in a plea for help. The neighbourhood group try to offer support to drug abusers and those involved in anti-social behaviour, however they are often rebuked as they "just want money." He explained: "We're going out and most the time we're giving them sandwiches, and they're thrown back at us. They want money, we say 'sorry we don't do that.' "They don't want the help. You give them food, they don't want it. How is the supply of drugs getting through to them? "There's a couple who were really good looking, honest to God if you saw a photo of them from ten years ago, how good looking they are, to what's happened to them now, it's like skin and bones. "Help is out there, but it's whether people choose to get themselves cleaned up." He continued: "I walked up my road and I couldn't believe the state of it. I've been here 40 years. There's people who don't like walking across the road. "A lot of us have had enough and are moving out the area, and renting them out. I would love to move, but have you seen the prices of houses these days? "We made a home, been here 40 years, us neighbours and everyone never had issues - and now we're down to this." West Midlands Police said Soho Road is "very much a priority" for the local policing teams, with a number of recent operations leading to "significant arrests and convictions." A spokesperson for the force said: "Our local neighbourhood teams work in conjunction with our wider operational teams such as Guardian, Op Skybridge, Safer Travel and more. "We are still continuing to run operations in this area, with last month's Safer Travel operation leading to multiple arrests. "We work in partnership with birmingham-city-council>Birmingham City Council to address any issues that may affect Soho Road, as well as working with a number of other agencies to help those in the area. "We have a dedicated patrol which has been reviewed to now include the whole Soho Road and the surrounding roads, and utilise this in conjunction with the PSPO." Anyone who has information was urged to get in touch with local officers or call 101. Do you live in the area? Have you been affected by this or anti-social behaviour where you live? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing
