to agree with ASBOs you have to also agree with Police Officers handing out summery justice (you can get carried off to jail without the benefit of trial if a copper thinks you havn't complied). But I too thought it funny.
Steve Cronin
<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion
Not entirely, the police put together the case and then submit it to the magistrates. The decision to issue the order is made by the court. You cannot be jailed as part of an ASBO (or by the police), the court can however jail you for non-compliance. The case for a breach has to go through the CPS.
The main difference from other legal processes is that the court initially approves an ASBO in a civil capacity not a criminal one. The subsequent prosecution of a breach is to the same standard of proof as the criminal one ie. beyond reasonable doubt.
But that still means that the level of proof required is really civil not criminal - in that at no point does it have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the anti-social behaviour order was justified in the first place.
As a result you can now be jailed for doing nothing that is per se illegal
If you are that interested, look <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/asbocont.html>here</A>. You will see more and more of them and if they are not watered down as these things usually are, we all might actually benefit.
No. That the ASBO was not justifiable would be a defence in the event of a breach and the circumstances of the granting of the ASBO would then be investigated to the higher level of proof as part of the subsequent prosecution.
He is base in Portsmouth. I remember the case last year when he clamped the Cop Car. Had to laugh then cos I thought they deserved to get Clamped. He has a reputation as a nasty piece of work though so it was only a matter of time till he was curtailed.