Sunak cracks down on anti-social behaviour

LONDON: British PM Rishi Sunak launched a new Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan to crack down on illegal activities within communities by handing additional powers to the police to punish drug-related offences and criminal gang activity.

Under the new Immediate Justice scheme, those found committing anti-social behaviour will be made to repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities, with an ambition for them to start work as soon as 48 hours after their offence. Offenders, who will be made to wear high-visibility vests or jumpsuits and work under supervision, could be made to pick up litter, remove graffiti and wash police cars as punishment for their actions.

Victims of anti-social behaviour from the local community will be given a say in offenders’ punishments to ensure justice is “visible and fits the crime.” “Anti-social behaviour undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home,” said Sunak.

“The public have rightly had enough – which is why I am determined to restore people’s confidence that those responsible will be quickly punished. This action plan maps out how we will tackle this issue with the urgency it deserves and stamp out these crimes once and for all – so that wherever you live, you can feel safe in, and proud of your community,” he said. Under the plan’s “zero-tolerance approach”, Nitrous Oxide or “laughing gas” will also be banned to send a message to intimidating gangs that hang around high streets and litter them with canisters.

The drug is now reported as the third most used among 16 to 24-year-olds in England and both the police and public have repeatedly reported links between use of this drug and nuisance or anti-social behaviour. “The public are fed up with crime and nuisance behaviour in their neighbourhoods,” said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.