Councils and police now able to seek gang injunctions

Local authorities and the police are now able to apply for so-called gang injunctions, the Home Office has announced.

The court orders, which will only apply in England and Wales, mean people can be:

• barred from entering a certain geographical area
• barred from being in public with a particular species of animal, for example a dog which had previously been used as a weapon
• barred from wearing certain 'gang colours' in public, and
• required to participate in positive activities such as being mentored.

Minister for Crime Prevention James Brokenshire said: “Gangs cause significant and lasting harm to our communities through fuelling violence, creating an atmosphere of fear and drawing young people into criminality.”

Brokenshire insisted the new powers would help police and local authorities tackle local gang problems by placing tough conditions on the behaviour of individuals involved in gang-related violence as well as provide support to those who want to leave violent gangs.

The Home Secretary is meanwhile expected to announce in February a range of reforms aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour.

In an interview with The Guardian, Theresa May said she would ditch the word “ASBO” and cut anti-social behaviour offences from 19 to five.

According to the paper, the measures the Home Secretary will propose include:

• A criminal behaviour order that could see people convicted of being drunk and disorderly banned from town centres
• A civil “crime prevention injunction” that can be obtained within hours rather than months
• Court orders to close a property affected by persistent disorder
• Fines for people “who have been a persistent nuisance and harmed the quality of life in an area”
• A “direction to leave” which could see individuals causing or likely to cause crime directed away from a particular place and ‘related items’ confiscated.