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UK: ASBO credibility dented by hypocrisy

01 November 2005

It would appear Louise Casey is not alone in displaying inappropriate behaviour for an authority figure responsible for combating anti-social behaviour (see Statewatch Vol. 15 no 5). In Ludlow, a man given a three-year ASBO for directing foul language towards his neighbours was sworn at by the police officer handling the investigation. He lodged a complaint arguing, "It's totally hypocritical that I get an anti-social behaviour order against me and this officer uses anti-social language and behaviour but nothing happens to him".

In Scotland, a member of North Lanarkshire Council's ASBO task force charged with investigating complaints of anti-social behaviour was found to be almost two times over the alcohol limit after she crashed her car into a lamppost. While a number of alcoholics have been imprisoned for breaching orders forbidding them from drinking in public and entering pubs, she received a one-year driving ban and a £300 fine before returning to work for the council shown by a recent Scottish Executive report to have issued more ASBOs than any other in the country.

If those who have accrued responsibility for restoring a culture of "respect" in British society are incapable of holding themselves to the behavioural standards they are increasingly willing to penalise others for failing to meet the scheme would seem to lack credibility from the off.

Shropshire Star 15/12/05, Sunday Mail 11/12/05