Injunction against teenager extended to protect public

An interim injunction against a teenager to protect members of the public, local retailers and leisure centre staff in Darlington has been extended for another 12 months.

The decision follows a hearing at the Youth Court in Newton Aycliffe on Friday (17 October) attended by the 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Darlington Borough Council’s antisocial behaviour (ASB) and civic enforcement team applied for the initial injunction in August, after 17 reports of ASB involving the youth were received by the team and Durham Constabulary.

They included reports of abuse of staff at a leisure centre, abuse of workers in a local shopping centre and abuse of elderly members of the public in the town centre.

The judge commented that as there had not been any breaches of the interim injunction, it appeared the order had succeeded in keeping the youth’s behaviour in check and therefore the order should be extended for 12 months under the same terms.

The court ordered that the youth will not:

• Use or threaten violence against any other person, and must not ask or encourage anyone to use or threaten violence on his behalf
• Use threatening, insulting or abusive words or behaviour towards another or encourage others to do so
• Enter Darlington Town Centre without being accompanied by an adult, aged 18 or over
• Destroy or damage property that does not belong to him or threaten to damage and destroy such property or encourage others to do so.
• Gather in public spaces within a group of more than five people in total, with the exception of activities arrange by his school or by the youth justice service
• Engage in, or encourage others to engage in, behaviour which could reasonably be considered to be antisocial. 

A Power of Arrest was also included for all of the terms of the order.

Temporary Inspector Matt Plumb, from Darlington Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “The extension of this order is welcome news as it is clear that it is having a positive impact on this young person’s behaviour.

“We know that certain individuals often have a disproportionate impact on the wider community and are responsible for a high proportion of the incidents of antisocial behaviour within the town.

“As this case shows, we work closely with our partners at the council to identify those individuals and will take appropriate action against them.”

Councillor Jim Garner, the council’s cabinet member for stronger communities, added: “We’ve worked closely with police, local retailers and other town centre staff to tackle this issue and will continue this partnership going forward.

“The court accepted that the interim order has had a clear, positive effect in changing the young person’s behaviour and therefore agreed that it be extended. We hope that this will act as a warning to others that such behaviour will not be tolerated and action will be taken.”

To find out more about ASB and how to report it visit www.darlington.gov.uk/asb