Kentish Express Ashford & District
Third order to crack down on town yobs
A teenager has been arrested and charged for breaching a police dispersal order designed to combat anti-social behaviour.
Last week officers in Ashford slapped three dispersal orders on unruly yobs who were terrorising residents and shoppers on two housing estates and in the town centre.
The first was issued at 4pm on Saturday, February 20 in Stanhope, following an incident which saw a 15-year-old girl injured when she was struck by a plank of wood.
Then on Monday of last week the second dispersal order was imposed after yobs ran into a restaurant and took sweets at the Bockhanger shopping precinct in Bybrook Road.
Finally on Friday a third dispersal order was issued after a gang of 40 yobs gathered in the High Street and swore at shoppers.
Kent Police’s anti-social behaviour investigator PC Steven Hill said the dispersal orders were not linked to the same youths.
He said: “The most recent dispersal order was in the town centre on Friday, whereby a large group of youths had been causing anti-social behaviour around the town.
“There was reported to be 40 of them in number and were repeatedly swearing and disrupting of shoppers and members of the public.
“Their behaviour continued and created a fearful atmosphere for people. Due to this the order was imposed in the town centre.”
He said that as a result of the order, the 18-year-old man was arrested and charged for breaching the third order.
PC Hill denied that the orders are targeted at any specific type of young person and denied that the orders led to young people being excluded from areas like the town centre.
He said: “The orders are used for a specific area where antisocial behaviour is, has been, or is likely to be, committed.
“It does not prevent anyone from entering anywhere or restrict them at all, but it does provide us with additional powers to move them on if it is deemed appropriate, necessary and justifiable.
“It has been a very useful piece of legislation which has recently been used very effectively. It gives confidence to people that the town is a safe place and allows them to go about their daily business without the fear of being confronted.”
Despite the implementation of these three dispersal orders, Ashford has the lowest level of anti-social behaviour in the country.
Details on page 22.
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