Examples of
ASBOs used in extreme cases
Doug Collier - A 74-year-old man given an order in a case that
well illustrates the one-sided nature of the ASBO application
process and the potential for their vindictive misuse (August
2010)
Patricia Greene - A 78-year-old woman banned from contacting the
police "unless there is a genuine emergency" breached
the order within 24 hours (June 2010)
Christopher Lehane - Banned from 'mooning' in public (June
2010)
Ellis Drummond - The Crown Prosecution Service were forced to
remove clauses in Drummond's ASBO that would have banned him
from wearing his trousers too low on his waist, and wearing any
hooded clothing "with the hood up", after a judge ruled
that they would breach his human rights. District Judge Nicholas
Leigh-Smith said: Some of the requirements proposed struck
me as contrary to the Human Rights Act (May 2010)
Barry Docherty - Faces jail if found in possession of a mobile
phone or sim card (May 2010)
Harry Taylor - An atheist banned from carrying "religiously
offensive" material in a public place (April 2010)
Samuel Kilpatrick - A 17-year-old banned from swearing
(April 2010)
Alan Brown - Breached the terms of his ASBO which stipulate
that he cannot eat in any culinary establishment in England and
Wales without having paid for his food in advance (March 2010)
Derby freerunners - Freerunning is an emerging sport that
incorporates elements of parkour and involves the performance
of acrobatic movements in urban spaces. Those practicing the
sport in Derby have been sent threatening letters by the local
community safety officer warning them that their actions are
causing "alarm and distress" (March 2010)
Fife homeowner - According to the BBC a man in Fife has been
banned from having more than three guests in his home at any
one time, and from shouting or swearing within the premises (February
2010)
Daniel Fletcher - Banned from touching cars and being in the possession
of marbles or any other tool that could be used to interfere
with a vehicle (January 2010)
Simon Frodsham - Having been given his first ASBO in 2003, the
cost to the taxpayer of prosecuting and incarcerating him over
the last seven years is an estimated £1 million. His latest
arrest came for walking into a library and reading a book (December
2009)
Arsenal limo drivers - Islington council has decided to issue
ASBOs to chauffeur drivers who wait in nearby streets with their
car engines running during Arsenal football games (December 2009)
Szilard Szlavec - A 30-year-old man who attempted to film up women's
skirts banned from carrying or using a camera in public for two
years (November 2009)
Darren Bingham - Banned from knocking on front doors without
the owner's permission (November 2009)
Derby car clampers - A Labour councillor's attempt to get
Derby city council to issue ASBOs to car clampers was unsuccessful
(November 2009)
Martina Rabess - Given an ASBO for praying loudly in the common
areas of her block of flats (October 2009)
Piroska Zsapka - A 76-year-old given an order for shouting at
people who park outside her bungalow (October 2009)
Robin Shipman - A dog owner given an ASBO for failing to control
his dogs. He can now be jailed if he walks more than four of
them at the same time or allows more than two off the leash (October
2009)
Kieran OSullivan - Banned from every roof top in London
after installing illegal pirate radio equipment on a tower block
in Camden (September 2009)
Maidenhead car clampers - Maidenhead council unanimously agreed
to introduce ASBOs for car clampers (September 2009)
Paul Lloyd - Given an ASBO for playing loud music (September
2009)
Frederick Amery - A 74-year-old banned from speaking to anyone
under the age of 18 (September 2009)
Windsor car clampers - In a case that clearly illustrates
how widely ASBOs are being used, the Royal Borough of Windsor
& Maidenhead has voted to start issuing Anti Social Behaviour
Orders to car clampers to prevent the area's reputation as a
tourist destination being damaged (September 2009)
James Ryan & Andrew Stevens - Buskers who only knew two songs given
an ASBO (August 2009)
Jean Robinson - Breached her order by sheltering from the rain
two metres inside a shopping centre she is banned from (August
2009)
Edward Harris - A 76-year-old who suffers from severe arthritis
threatened with "anti-social behaviour action" by Bournemouth
council for allegedly slamming doors in his house (August 2009)
Juan Cumia - A 50-year-old who uploaded video clips of his
neighbours to myspace, youtube and tinypic websites as part of
an ongoing dispute given an order banning him from "uploading
or encouraging any person to upload to the internet any electronic
files containing images or words likely to cause harassment,
alarm or distress." Cumia argued that he uploaded the footage
because it "shows racist abuse and indecent exposure by
neighbours against me and my family...Even though some of the
neighbours admitted to the offence of racially aggravated fear
of violence in 2006, the abuse against us has continued until
now and indeed, still continues." He was charged
with breaching his order later in the month for uploading
a statement to his blog. He was given a tagged curfew lasting
six weeks, requiring him to be indoors between the hours of 9pm
and 6am (July 2009)
Jonathan & Joshua Webb - Succeeded in having an ASBO banning
them from wearing hooded tops amended on the basis that their
mother still buys their clothes (July 2009)
Linda Ware - Threatened with an ASBO for growing tomato plants
(July 2009)
Brendan Ross - Given an ASBO for keeping rubbish in his garden.
The order outlaws: storing items or materials in a way
that is prejudicial to public heath or otherwise so as to cause
alarm, harassment or distress to others. He is also banned
from collecting rubbish from private skips, bins and civil amenity
sites, and is only allowed to have two bicycles in his possession
(July 2009)
Gabriel Tabar - Banned from staring at women (July 2009)
Victor Radzinsky - A 58 year-old given an ASBO for breaking
an "archaic law" that forbids commercial vans from
driving through an Edinburgh park (June 2009)
Anthony Smith - A 38 year-old who suffers from gout and alcohol
addiction banned from every UK hospital and GP practice unless
he has a medical emergency or prior appointment (May 2009)
Eugene Brocklehurst - A 69-year-old given an order for repeatedly
phoning the police (May 2009)
Caroline Cartwright - A 48-year-old woman jailed for making
too much noise during sex. She was given an order on 17 April
forbidding her from making excessive noise but breached it three
times in the following 10 days. On 26 April she was remanded
in custody until 5 May (April 2009) Appeared in court on 6 May
and was remanded
in custody. The case was also covered by The
Times (May 2009) She claims that her ASBO breaches
Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (November 2009) Arrested
again (March 2010) Update: Spared
jail a second time
(June 2010)
Patricia Eldridge - An ASBO was given to this 64-year-old
after neighbours complained about her dogs barking (April 2009)
Callum Smith - A 20-year-old, who has a repeat prescription
for methadone to combat his heroin addiction, has been arrested
over 30 times because his ASBO forbids him from entering the
areas of Cheltenham town centre where his probation office and
Cheltenham general hospital are located (April 2009)
Umar Siddique - A 16-year-old banned from every street in Forest
Fields, the area of Nottingham in which he lives, except his
own. It effectively means he cannot leave his road on foot; only
by bus or car (April 2009)
Ben Bramall - Banned from wearing a baseball cap and hooded
tops (March 2009)
Louisa Lee - Threatened with an ASBO for having a noisy sex
life (March 2009)
Yusef Nur - A 19-year-old banned from entering any public
space in his borough between the hours of 8pm and 8am. The order,
which is in place for three years, also prohibits him from covering
his face with a mask or a scarf (March 2009)
Joanne Roberts - Banned from every shop in Denbighshire for ten
years (March 2009)
Raymond West - A 45-year-old banned from "making noise,
shouting or using swearwords" (February 2009)
Jill O'Flaherty - A 66-year-old, whose barking dogs breached a
noise abatement order, now likely to be given an ASBO (February
2009)
David Jell - A 49-year-old banned from carrying felt-tip
pens in public. He also faces jail if he writes rude comments
or nicknames in a public place (January 2009)
Celia Edge - A 40-year-old given an order following a dispute
with her neighbours - who installed CCTV cameras to gather 143
DVDs worth of evidence against her. She believes her case highlights
the ability to utilise an ASBO to facilitate vindictive abuse
and is being supported in her case by The Monitoring Group (December
2008)
Martin Solomon - Breached his order by swearing at his television,
and was fined £80 (December 2008)
Michael Gilligan - A 99-year ASBO (December 2008)
Raymond Woods - Served an order imposing severe restrictions
on his right to enter any place of worship in England or Wales
(November 2008)
Torquay 'hoodies' - Four teenagers banned from wearing
hooded tops as part of their order (October 2008) [also see:
Henry
Porter article on a similar case, November 2008]
Stuart
Hunt - After a dispute with neighbours over speed bumps,
he was give an ASBO with a bizarre range of restrictions including
laughing at people, waving objects at people, and adopting a
menacing stance. Having unsurprisingly breached these terms he
appeared in court where his lawyer argued that: "It contravenes
any individual's human rights...he would technically be breaching
his order if he laughs at a joke" (October 2008) He has
since been charged
with breaching his order for laughing. He said: "two
police officers turned up at my house and charged me with breaching
the Asbo by laughing at the neighbours' daughter. They charged
me with laughing specifically and only with laughing.
I couldn't believe it. It's absolutely absurd" (December
2009)
Cornish surfers - Surfers who steal swimmers' waves have been
threatened with ASBOs (September 2008)
Lord Rodley - Threatened with an order by neighbours over
a long-running dispute about his hedge (September 2008)
Motin Miah - Given an order for trying to encourage passers
by to eat at his curry house (June 2008)
John Norman - A 61-year-old given an order for playing music
at an unacceptable volume (May 2008)
Robert Bullough - A 59-year-old disabled man given an order for
making 10,000 phone calls to his local council in four months
(April 2008)
Peter
Stoodley - Given an order because of the noise made by
his chickens (April 2008)
Giran Jobe - A council application for an ASBO to be made
against a weightlifter for exercising too loudly was rejected
in court (April 2008)
Jeremy Awdry - A 59-year-old given an order after his neighbours
claimed he could not control his livestock (January 2008) Breached
the order (December 2008) Breached
the order again by
giving a passer-by a "dirty look". "Don't give
people dirty looks", he was told by the judge (September
2009)
John Garcia - A 20-year-old deported to the Philippines, a
country he left at the age of four and whose language he doesn't
speak, after committing petty crimes and breaching his order
(January 2008) [see also: BBC
coverage, January 2008]
Mirriam Ammash - The criminalisation of spitting (January 2008)
Unnamed #1 - A 42-year-old woman banned from returning to
her privately owned house for three months (December 2007)
Ryan Starkley - A 17-year-old now faces jail should he drop
his trousers in public (December 2007)
Unnamed #2 - In the first case of its kind, a 17-year-old
boy from Norfolk had his use of the internet restricted by an
ASBO. He is banned from publishing material on the internet that
"promotes criminal activity" (December 2007)
Robert Webber - A 25-year-old "serial menace" given
a two-year order after a number of petty shoplifting offenses.
His lawyer said: "If you want to get him out of trouble
the answer is not to give him an Asbo, but to put him in a residential
rehabilitation unit to be policed on a socially acceptable basis
and educated". His order bans him from behaving anti-socially,
drinking alcohol in public and using some parts of the public
transport system. who faked drug overdoses to stay in hospital
given an order forbidding him from entering hospitals except
in a real emergency or with written permission (December 2007)
Mark Smith - A 33-year-old who faked drug overdoses to stay
in hospital given an order forbidding him from entering hospitals
except in a real emergency or with written permission (August
2007)
Diane Duffin - A 36-year-old given an interim order banning
her from playing music in her home between 11pm and 7am (August
2007)
Caroline Bishop - A dispute between two neighbours ended with
this 39-year-old being given an order for singing in her bathroom
(July 2007)
Gene & James Flitcroft - Two 44-year-old identical twins served
an order to stop their arguments disturbing neighbours (June
2007)
Thompson family - A family banned from all 900 homes in the town
in which they live except their own (May 2007)
Hampstead Council estate - Camden council has threatened parents
with ASBOs should their children be caught playing ball games
on the estate in which they live (April 2007)
William Rae - A 22-year-old who has gone to court
to fight an order imposed on him for shouting at his TV (March
2007)
Daniel Whittle - A 17-year-old forbidden from carrying
a lighter or "any articles that emit a flammable substance
at any time, in any place" after lighting fires in the garden
of his home (March 2007)
Olga Conco - A 43-year-old woman banned from entering
the road on which she used to live for 20 years (March 2007)
Stanley Brown - A 49-year-old given an order banning
him from spitting into his neighbour's garden (February 2007)
Andrew Walch - A 17-year-old banned from wearing
any item of clothing that restricts view of his face (February
2007)
Yan Price - A 31-year-old given an order for mowing
his garden lawn whilst naked (January 2007)
Dawn Benson - A woman threatened with an order for
feeding pigeons (January 2007)
Philip Powner - A 76-year-old man given an interim
order for trespassing and stealing from his neighbours' gardens
(December 2006)
Ideal Upholstery - In a rare case of a company being
threatened with an order, this furniture factory has been targeted
after complaints from local residents. However, environmental
services found that noise and pollution levels did not constitute
a "statutory nuisance", so an ASBO would be used instead
to effectively bypass the law (November 2006)
John Conington - An 82-year-old given an order following
a dispute with his neighbours over the size of the trees in his
garden (November 2006)
Mark Senter - A 33-year-old arrested for breaching
his order after asking a friend to lend him £10 so that
he could pay his electricity bill. A clause in his order forbids
him from asking anyone for cigarettes or money (October 2006)
David Grimes - This 27-year-old became the first
person to be given an order banning domestic violence. It is
of particular interest because domestic violence is, of course,
already a criminal offence making this another area of traditional
law that the ASBO impinges on (October 2006)
Nicholas Phillip
Corelli-Lichtenstein
- A 50-year-old given a 12-year order for sending offensive letters
to MPs, councillors and government agencies (October 2006)
Mark Bowkett - A 40-year-old banned from his home
town of Lydney for 10 years. According to the police "he
has become not only a career criminal but also a common bully",
but the ASBO does nothing to curb his behaviour rather it serves
merely to displace it (September 2006)
Kenneth Williamson - The owner of a noisy rooster in Scotland
faces a hearing in November to determine whether he will be given
an ASBO. The order would force him to stop the animal from crowing
between 10pm and 7am. A vet quoted in court papers said that
"there was nothing that could be done to quieten a cockerel
other than wring its neck". An interim ASBO application
was recently rejected after he agreed to move the cockerel 100
yards (September 2006) A hearing to determine whether a full
ASBO would be made was scheduled
for July (May 2007)
Shane Maslen - An 18-year-old banned from playing
football in the street for two years (September 2006)
Mike Townley - A 47-year-old policeman currently
off work with stress sent a letter by his council threatening
him with an ASBO over an ongoing feud with his neighbours (September
2006)
Janice Lee - A 37-year-old given an order to stop
her singing at home. She intends to move house saying: "It
makes me look like some sort of criminal" (September 2006)
Graham Branfield - A 63-year-old bird lover given an
order preventing him from feeding pigeons in his back garden
(July 2006)
Next - A local councillor from Wirral Council
in Merseyside has written to the clothing company threatening
to apply for an order unless they stop making late-night noisy
deliveries (July 2006)
Donal Burke - A 36-year-old given an order for playing
U2 music too loudly (July 2006)
Winifred Mills - A 77-year-old threatened with eviction
after encouraging her son to visit her at home because the council
estate in which she lives is off limits to him under the terms
of his ASBO (June 2006)
Mark Dixon - A 29-year-old banned from every train
and railway station in England and Scotland (June 2006)
Paul Henney - Given an order for slamming doors
in his house too loudly (June 2006)
Bernard Hambleton - A 66-year-old who has been feeding
birds at his home for around 20 years given an order banning
him from doing so for two years. His partner said: "we were
shocked when we heard it had gone this far but it only takes
a couple of people to get the ball rolling and then it escalates
to this. I think it's a vendetta and we don't need it because
we've got bigger problems to deal with [Hambleton is suffering
from terminal throat cancer]." She added: "It started
off as the Asbos should be for yobs. But now they are targeting
older people. We're an easy target as pensioners" (May 2006)
Philip Howard - A 52-year-old street evangelist who
preached to shoppers in Oxford Circus has been banned from doing
so by his ASBO. The order lasts for three years and applies to
the area bounded by Marble Arch, Regent Street and Portman Square.
Whether Howard will stop preaching, ignore the order, or simply
move to another busy area of central London remains to be seen
(May 2006) Having simply moved to other parts of central London,
Westminster council applied
on 2 August to have the order extended to cover the entire
borough (August 2006)
Michael Ward - A 29-year-old car thief banned from
every car park in England and Wales (May 2006)
Martin Pyne - A thief banned from every phone box
in England and Wales (May 2006)
Dean Handford - One of a pair of 19-year-old identical
twins jailed for 90 days for urinating against a shop (May 2006)
Mark Burt - Banned from owning a stereo for three
years after breaching his noise-abatement notice (May 2006)
David Hibbs-Turner - In a clear example of the ASBO being
used outside of its remit, Merseyside Police have used it to
combat organised crime by banning a "crime boss" from
the city centre at night for the next ten years (April 2006)
Terry Clowsley - In a case similar to that of Brian
Hagan (see below) this farmer has been threatened with an ASBO
because his pigs keep escaping from his farm (April 2006)
David Howarth - A 39-year-old "cowboy builder"
could be banned from cold-calling for business for the next five
years (April 2006)
Hayley Wignall - A 27-year-old given an order for leaving
bin bags of rubbish in her garden (April 2006)
David Burrows - A 43-year-old policeman who took a
police baton into a pub given an order banning him from the premises
for two years. He resigned from South Wales Police before he
could be sacked (April 2006)
Mark Wainfur - A 20-year-old given an order banning
him from wearing hooded tops (April 2006)
Italiano Thomas-Bell - A 16-year-old banned from wearing
hooded tops, comnuicating with two of his friends, going to certain
areas of Manchester and drinking in public until 2011 (April
2006)
Teressa Webb - A 30-year-old given an order for playing
the hit music single "Amarillo" too loudly (March 2006)
David Key - An 18-year-old given an order to prevent
him from sticking up two fingers to form a V-sign (March 2006)
Paul Jones - A 25-year-old banned from using power
tools for six years (March 2006)
Malcolm Pattison - A car thief banned from every car
park in England and Wales (March 2006)
William Hillan - Given a temporary order after his
neighbours complained that he was playing music too loudly. Hillan,
who is gay, argued that he is being victimised on account of
his sexuality: "I have lived here for 10 years and there
weren't any problems until certain neighbours moved in a couple
of years ago". Previously one neighbour was fined £50
after admitting calling Hillan a "poof" (February 2006)
Amy Dallamura - A 42-year-old woman banned from her
town's seafront after repeatedly endangering her own life. She
is banned from entering the sea, the beaches and parts of Aberystwyth
promenade (January 2006) She was arrested
near cliffs a few hours after her appeal to have her
order overturned was unsuccessful (February 2009)
Neil Carpenter - A 39-year-old former soldier, who
dressed in Nazi uniform, given an order banning him from wearing
military gear or pseudo military uniforms and from making military
gestures such as saluting or actions which "appear to be
of a military nature" (January 2006)
Angela Ramsden - A 41-year-old given an interim order
banning her from having sex in public places (January 2006)
Craig Brealey - A 33-year-old glue-sniffer banned
from possessing any solvent based substances in a public place
(January 2006)
Stuart McGhie - A 'sex pest' who was banned from showing
or dropping any bank notes on the floor in public to attract
teenage girls jailed for two years for breaching the order (December
2005)
Ian Matthews - A 19-year-old forbidden from playing
football in the street (December 2005)
Marion Beresford - A 48-year-old spent Christmas and
New Year in jail for breaching the terms of her order by playing
loud music (December 2005)
Andrew Caulfield - A 13-year-old schoolboy in Scotland
given an ASBO warning by his council after neighbours complained
about him practising the bagpipes. According to the Daily
Record, ironically he had "been invited by the same
council to take part in a £30,000 initiative to encourage
kids to take up piping" (December 2005)
Lisa Richardson - A 31-year-old banned from playing
any music in her flat between 11pm and 7.30am (November 2005)
Andrea Dickson - A mother attempting to use ASBOs against
the children responsible for bullying her son at school (November
2005)
Trevor Davidson - In a case that exemplifies the ASBO's
capacity to facilitate the settling of petty disputes and accommodate
vindictive behaviour, a judge refused to make an order against
a man after a string of complaints from his neighbours. "This
has been a sorry four days that the court has had to listen to
neighbours who have fallen out. It is a sad sign of the times
that it has gone this far." He also criticised the council
for not seeking a statement from Davidson giving his side of
the story when applying for an order that could eventually lead
to a five year jail term (November 2005)
Vic Moszcyznski - A man who puts up a display of Christmas
lights each year to raise money for a local children's charity
has been threatened with an order by police because of the anti-social
behaviour of the large numbers of people who come to see the
spectacle (November 2005)
Christopher Henson
& Teresa Roper
- An arguing couple given orders banning them from being verbally
abusive, shouting or swearing, either in public or in their home,
if other members of the public can hear them (November 2005)
David Gaylor - A 19-year-old banned from entering
any Asda store in England or Wales was fined £50 for breaching
his order when found sitting at a bus stop which, unknown to
him, was situated on land belonging to the shopping retailer
(October 2005)
Asda - Asda has also been on the receiving
end after Liverpool City Council threatened the retailer with
an ASBO for marketing eggs as "Halloween Fun", a move
the authorities feared would encourage people to throw them (October
2005)
William Hardman - Banned from boarding a train or entering
a railway station in England and Wales for the next two years
without written permission after assaulting a ticket inspector
(October 2005)
Arthur Burgess - An 80-year-old given an order (October
2005) He has since been jailed
for 11 months for breaching his order (March 2007)
Michael Donockley - The case of this 18-year-old, who
breached his order but was spared jail on account of his improved
behaviour, serves to highlight the triviality of offences that
can constitute a breach. Donockley is banned from associating
with a friend of his, but when a chance meeting occurred in their
town centre the pair were spotted by a policeman and Donockley
was arrested (October 2005)
Trevor Petgrave - A 32-year-old, currently in jail for
racially aggravated abuse, given a five year order that bans
him from using the words "Taliban", "white trash",
"white bitch", "white slag" and "Paki"
either verbally or in written form upon his release (September
2005)
James Collins - A 57-year-old flasher banned from
his own road and surrounding streets faces jail for returning
to his own house (September 2005)
Edward Freear - A 66-year-old pensioner jailed for
the second time for having breached his order (September 2005)
Christine Boswell - A 60-year-old partially blind pensioner
jailed for swearing (September 2005)
Maughan family - A 56-year-old mother and her two daughters banned
from "cold calling" at any home in the UK (August 2005)
Andrew Stephan - A 42-year-old who stole knickers and
sex toys from women on the Isles of Scilly given an order banning
him from visiting the island or entering a house without invitation
for seven years. He claims that banning him from Scilly, where
his ten-year-old daughter and four-year-old son live with his
estranged wife, is effectively "banishment from his home"
(August 2005) The Court of Appeal has since ruled that the ASBO
was "too
long" and reduced its length to two years (November
2005)
Janice Leverett - A 35-year-old accused of turning her
home into an "underaged drinking den" has been served
an order than bans any "young people" other than her
three children from visiting the house, while nobody is allowed
to sleep there. She is also banned from producing any noise on
her television or stereo that is audible from outside her house
(August 2005)
Smith family - In one of the first uses of its type,
four members of a family of travellers have received Asbos establishing
an exclusion zone of five square miles in the area they had been
living, which they can now stop in only to get petrol. Outside
the prohibited area they are allowed to stay in one place for
no longer than 21 days and cannot return to a previous campsite
for at least a year (August 2005)
Frank Gibson - A 28-year-old served an interim order
banning him from contacting his former girlfriend and her daughter
except through a solicitor until 2010. This marks another avenue
of use for Asbos far outside their initial remit (August 2005)
Marie Dalziel - A 23-year-old compulsive arsonist
given an order under which she must obey a 7pm curfew, wear an
electronic tag, attend a drugs rehabilitation course and not
carry any lighter accelerant. More significantly, the Council
failed in their attempt to ban her from carrying a lighter or
matches because her lawyer successfully argued that she had a
human right to smoke (August 2005)
Suran Karim - A 20-year-old illegal cigarette seller
banned from carrying more than three packets of cigarettes at
any one time and offering to sell tobacco products anywhere in
England and Wales (August 2005)
Gon Ren Zhou - A 36-year-old street trader given
an order for selling counterfeit DVDs, the second of its kind
within the space of two weeks (August 2005)
Carl Langton - This seller of pirated DVDs and CDs
became the first recipient of an order related to intellectual
property theft (July 2005)
William Porteous - A 51-year-old jailed for three months
for breaching his order by playing loud rock music (July 2005)
Julie Brown - A 35-year-old pregnant women whose
unborn baby was mistakenly threatened with an order (July 2005)
Eileen Davies - A 72-year-old threatened with an ASBO
for feeding birds in her garden (July 2005)
Mohammed Iftikhar - A 29-year-old who followed postmen
and stole mail given an order banning him from following postal
staff and handling any mail which is not addressed to him with
prior permission (July 2005)
Barrington Harris - A 47-year-old in breach of his order
for singing too loudly at home was jailed, refused bail, and
subsequently missed his mother's funeral (July 2005) He was recently
released having spent 64
days in prison but is likely to lose his flat as his
housing association has initiated eviction proceedings against
him (September 2005)
Mark Devlin - A 30-year-old former heroin addict
jailed for breaching his order which forbade him from riding
his pushbike (July 2005)
Hugh McColl - A 59-year-old who was served an order
forbidding him from playing his TV or stereo too loudly, slamming
doors or stamping on the floor and was subsequently jailed for
its breach (July 2005)
Simon Frodsham - A 35-year-old banned from over 100
churches and two town centres was jailed after intentionally
breaching his order for the 17th time. He told magistrates: "I
believe the only thing this order has achieved is to institutionalise
me... It has got to the stage where I can no longer function
in the community and have to be looked after by prison staff"
(July 2005)
Cigarette sellers - Camden council and police were granted
ASBOs against two London cigarette sellers, Mohammed Kamal and
Sabur Mustafa. This is believed to be the first time orders have
been used against street traders (source: Evening Standard 30/6/05)
Kevin Seabrook - A 38-year-old who put up prostitutes'
cards in phone booths in central London given an order banning
him from entering any telephone box unless making an emergency
call (source: Camden Gazette 8/6/05)
Stefan Noremberg - A 42-year-old banned from moving furniture
in a way that can be heard from outside his house (June 2005)
John McCarthy - A 44-year-old who, when drunk, has
often doused himself in petrol and threatened to set himself
alight served an order banning him from all petrol stations and
shops where petrol is available to the public through England
and Wales. He is also banned from anywhere alcohol is for sale
while he is under its influence, and is forbidden from drinking
in public places other than pubs and restaurants (June 2005)
Ewan David Deans - A 16-year-old served an interim order
which, among other things, bans him from Lincoln City football
ground for three months. He is also forbidden from going within
200 metres of any football ground Lincoln City are playing at
two hours before kick-off time (June 2005)
Michael Carroll - A 22-year-old former dustman who won
the national lottery and a jackpot of £9.7 million in 2002
has become the richest person to receive an ASBO. Carroll, who
has made 30 court appearances in the last three years, pleaded
guilty to causing over £3000 worth of damage by firing
ball bearings from a catapult at cars and houses. However, the
area around his home where he has upset his neighbours by staging
demolition derbies and car races is not covered by the order.
Breckland Council claims their request to be included in the
order was deleted from the paperwork and now, should they choose
to pursue their own ASBO proceedings, Carroll would face the
prospect of becoming subject to two orders (June 2005) Carroll
has since been made the subject of a second
order by Breckland Council (September 2005)
Travellers' sites - Wakefield has become the first council
to announce a trial use of ASBOs on five sites where anyone setting
up camp will now be served an order. The Gypsy Council has warned
that the council is likely to face court challenges should they
follow through with their threat. They also said that "the
Act was not intended to be used against Gypsies and Travellers.
It is immoral and punitive" (June 2005) These plans have
since collapsed after police admitted they
were probably unlawful in the wake of legal action threats (June
2005)
Dale Carroll - A 16-year-old banned from wearing
a hooded top for five years. This ASBO comes in the wake of Bluewater
shopping centre's ban on 'hoodies' as part of a clampdown
on antisocial behaviour (May 2005)
Joanne Cox - A 32-year-old mother was banned from
her 11 year-old son's school by an interim order after she confronted
the child she believed to be continually bullying him and the
headteacher she deemed to have done little to stop the abuse.
She is forbidden from entering the grounds of the school without
a previous written request to a member of staff which has been
agreed in writing by the headteacher or deputy (May 2005)
Richard Stofer - A 60-year-old man, with a penchant
for sunbathing naked or in a thong, given a five-year order forbidding
the practice (May 2005)
Jay Kelly - An 18-year-old "teenage troublemaker"
served an order forbidding him from playing loud music in any
car, carrying sports equipment as a weapon and driving or being
driven on certain roads near where he lives (May 2005)
Dorothy Evans - A 79-year-old women who "growled
like a dog" during an ongoing boundary dispute with her
neighbours given a five-year order (May 2005) Threatened
with jail for contempt of court (August 2007) Banned from
her home for five years (September 2008) Won
her appeal against the terms of her latest ASBO and has
been allowed to return home. However, she can leave her house
only between 10am-3pm and is banned from entering her back garden
(November 2008) In
jail awaiting trial having been charged with breaching
her order (November 2009)
James Cameron
& James Alves
- Two West Lothian "neighbours from hell" handed similar
orders. Cameron's forbids him from "shouting, swearing,
banging and slamming doors, including the main entry door, playing
loud music or television and throwing things out of the windows"
(May 2005)
Terence Maughan - A 20-year-old given a five year order
banning him from railway property for five years (April 2005)
Dean Fullman - A DJ who ran a pirate radio station
from the top of a tower block has been banned from the roof of
any building over four stories tall (April 2005)
Jean Smith - A 60 year-old threatened with an ASBO
for feeding the birds around her home in Fife (April 2005) Fife
council dropped the application after she voluntarily
agreed to restrict her bird feeding (June 2005) However, it appears
she was later made subject to an interim order and is now intending
to move house (March 2006)
Shabaz Ashiq - A 32-year-old unable to visit his
parents because he is now banned from the area in which his family
home is situated. Under the terms of his order he is also forbidden
from playing loud music and drinking in public (April 2005)
Mitch Hawkin - Has been threatened with an ASBO for
publishing a joke about the Pope's death on his website (April
2005)
South West Water - The company's managing director has
been threatened with an ASBO by Plymouth council over the smell
from sewage plants (April 2005)
Liverpool "touchline
yobs" - Parents
watching their children play in junior football leagues are set
to be handed ASBOs if deemed guilty of abusive behaviour (April
2005)
Welsh taxi drivers - Taxi drivers in north Wales have been
warned that they may be served orders for overusing their car
horns (March 2005)
Scottish gull
feeders - A new report
prepared for the Scottish executive has proposed that people
persistently caught feeding gulls in Scottish towns and cities
should be issued ASBOs (March 2005)
Caroline Shepherd - A 27-year-old woman served an order
after her neighbours claimed she was goading them by walking
around her home in her underwear. If she is seen "wearing
only her undergarments" at her window, her front door or
in her garden the mother-of-two faces jail (March 2005) On 30
March she pled not guilty to two charges of breaching the order (March 2005) In May she was convicted of breaching the order
and in Novemeber was evicted
from her council home (November 2005)
Ian Smith - This 55-year-old has become the first
person to be banned under an ASBO from parking in a space reserved
for disabled drivers (March 2005)
Julie Roberts - A court has ruled that emergency services
operators can ignore Roberts who phoned them nearly 800 times
in a year with a range of excuses. She was originally served
an interim ASBO but interestingly when she continued to make
calls the district judge decided it was not worth extending it
(March 2005)
James Cronin - A 51-year-old man served an order
banning him from making allegations that his neighbours are drug
dealers. He also risks jail if he labels people "drug dealers",
"council scum", druggies", "fairy" or
"army boy" (March 2005)
Neil Horan - A 57-year-old former priest, who was
defrocked after causing disruption at the 2004 Olympics, served
with an order banning him from going anywhere near the London
marathon on 17 April (March 2005) Southwark Council successfully
applied for an ASBO banning him from attending the London
marathon until 2010 or attending the start of the Tour de France
in London in July (June 2007)
Kim Sutton - A 23-year-old woman who has attempted
to commit suicide on four occasions has been banned from any
river, watercourse or canal in England and Wales, and from loitering
on bridges or going onto railway tracks (February 2005) She has
since lost her appeal against the order (April
2005)
Thomas Moore-Donald - A 54-year-old banned from every park
in Camden for letting his rotweiller off the leash (February
2005)
Nicola Walker - A convicted shoplifter recently released
from prison has been banned from 70 retail outlets in the centre
of Dundee (February 2005)
Mike McNulty - A 38-year-old man served an interim
order banning him from rowing with his wife (February 2005)
Roger Trotman - A 66-year-old pensioner served an
order for harassing a neighbour whose parking on the apex of
a bend he believed to be dangerous. In addition to the ASBO Trotman
was also served a five-year restraining order and ordered to
pay a total of £1200 in compensation and court costs. In
spite of this, double yellow lines are now due to be put on the
bend (February 2005) Trotman has since been charged for breaching the terms of his order
which forbade him from arguing over parking arrangements on the
road. He distributed 100 letters to neighbours calling for the
addition of yellow lines on a corner of the road after a local
councillor tried to block the decision reached at his original
ASBO hearing. The council has since decided to proceed with the
introduction of yellow lines as planned, but Trotman now faces
the possibility of jail (March 2005)
Brian Taylor - A 36-year-old man addicted to sniffing
petrol has been banned from every filling station and Asda store
on Teeside. He is also forbidden from carrying petrol in a public
place for the duration of the four year order (February 2005)
Caught on camera at an Asda station within weeks of receiving
the order he has since been jailed (March 2005)
David Fletcher - Given a ten-year ASBO banning him
from any branch of a number of big high-street stores including
Tescos, Safeway and Sainsbury's (February 2005)
David Oxley - A 61-year-old wheelchair-bound man,
having lost both of his legs through illness, with a history
of insulting his neighbours and social services staff has been
served an order banning him from drinking alcohol in public,
begging, using foul or insulting words or behaviour and acting
in a way liable to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others.
The council has warned that should he breach the order, on top
of facing imprisonment, he is likely to be evicted from his flat
(January 2005)
Gareth Flavell - A 23-year-old man served an order
banning him from committing a crime (January 2005)
Jennie Smith - A 74-year-old woman, served an interim
order, facing prison if she insults her neighbours or makes any
form of complaint to public bodies (December 2004) She has since
accepted the imposition of a full order which forbids here from "harassing
her neighbours, using abusive behaviour, making unfounded allegations
against them or playing music loudly" (April 2005)
Ricky Bailey - An 18-year-old forced to spend Christmas
behind bars having violated the terms of his order when he visited
his grandfather who lives in an area he is banned from (December
2004)
David Boag - A man fixated with the film An
American Werewolf in London was punished with an order for
his persistent howling. Having breached it he was handed a four
month sentence and spent Christmas in jail (December 2004)
Brian Hagan - A farmer in north Norfolk received
an interim order because his pigs were regularly escaping the
confines of his farm. Breached in a matter of hours, Hagan is
now considering mounting a legal challenge to the order and has
told magistrates he wants his case to be put before a jury at
a crown court (December 2004) The Crown Prosecution Service,
having dropped a charge of breaching the order
because "no reasonable time had elapsed to enable Mr Hagan
to comply with it", claimed they had advised from the beginning
that this was not a suitable case to apply for an ASBO. As a
result of this the application for a full order has been withdrawn
(January 2005) His pigs have since been removed by the RSPCA (July 2005)
Angela Sarna - A woman banned from using pay-as-you-go
mobile phones for five years (November 2004)
Griffiths family - A mother and her five children were
evicted from their home after two of her sons breached their
orders. Her local council initially refused to rehouse them claiming
they had made themselves "intentionally homeless" but
after a county court judge ruled in her favour were forced to
put them up in a hotel at a cost of over £8,000 (November
2004)
Bridge family - The first case of a 'family ASBO'
in which a married couple and their three sons have been banned
from congregating together outside their home in groups of more
than two. Other conditions of the order include an 11pm-7am curfew
and bans on the use of foul language and the entering of the
local police station and council buildings (October 2004) The family has since
been banned from their home town of Wirral (March
2005)
Daisy - A 17-year-old profoundly deaf girl
served an order for spitting in public. Having broken it she
is currently in prison on remand (October 2004)
Jamie Wilson - Served an order for illegally wheel
clamping cars (September 2004)
Thomas Spalding - A 50-year-old served an order banning
him from entering his own house. Having breached and pleaded
guilty he is currently serving a 60 day prison term (September
2004)
Christopher Wood - On the same day as he was released
from prison this 21-year-old found himself back in court being
served an interim order which banned him from entering any car
park in England and Wales, touching any car without the owner's
permission and riding a bicycle. On the full application hearing,
the council also managed to have him banned from wearing any
form of hat or hood in public (September 2004)
Sharon McLoughlin - A 33-year-old woman in Birmingham
banned from owning a stereo or television after her neighbours
made numerous complaints about the noise levels. She is also
being evicted from her council flat (August 2004)
Shepherds - Owners of livestock in the Forest
of Dean, Gloucestershire, have been threatened with ABSOs and
warned they could be banned from land and ordered to obey a curfew
(July 2004)
Norman Hutchins - A 53-year-old troublesome patient
banned from entering or phoning any NHS premises or private hospital
in England and Wales without written permission (June 2004) He
has since been jailed for three years, and an indefinite
"CRASBO" put in place for when he is released (January
2005) Jailed
again (September 2007) Update: And
again (January 2010)
Joseph Headley -
A 20-year-old banned from playing any form of ball games in his
street (June 2004)
Paul and Gary
Doyle - Two brothers
from Manchester were served an ASBO that included banning them
from using the word "grass" anywhere in England and
Wales (March 2004)
Robert Alexiuk - A 19-year-old whose order forbidding
him from using abusive or insulting language extends beyond public
places to his own garden (March 2004)
Alexander Muat - The oldest recipient of an order to
date, at 87 years of age, he is, among other things, forbidden
from being sarcastic to his neighbours (July 2003) He has since
been found guilty of breaking the terms of his order
on three separate occasions. Sentencing will take place on 13
November but the judge has already made clear that: "There
will be no prison for an 88-year-old-man" (October 2004)
For enquiries or contributions to this site, e-mail asbowatch(at)statewatch.org
