Police planning legal action against yobs

They say they don't want to criminalise youngsters

Police are planning legal action against a group of teenagers accused of anti-social behaviour which could see them banned him from parts of a Devon town.

Officers at Paignton have put together a file of evidence against one alleged offender and are preparing similar action against at least five others.

The town’s policing team has revealed they are seeking their first civil injunction against a young person after a series of incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour.

The legal action would see the teenager brought to court where they face being given a curfew and restrictions on where they can go and who they meet.

If they break the conditions they can be arrested and brought back to court where they face a detention order of up to three months.

Paignton police revealed the latest moves on their Facebook page.

A statement said they were “reluctant to criminalise children and take them to court but there are some who leave us with no other option.”

Facebook users welcomed the police announcement in comments on the post.

One comment reported youths throwing shopping trolleys from the top of the multi-storey car park in Victoria Square.

Another said young people had been “running wild” in the White Rock area of the town, after a report on social media on New Year’s Day of a group of up to 20 banging on doors and disrupting traffic by walking and cycling on the roads.

Just before Christmas three men were attacked by a group of around 20 boys and girls aged around 14 and 15 in Station Square.

The victims suffered minor injuries after being repeatedly kicked and punched in the incident at 1.20am on Sunday, December 23, and police appealed for witnesses.

A large group of teenagers was reported on social media to be responsible for another attack on a lone male outside Paignton railway station on the evening of December 28.

On New Year’s Eve police were granted temporary extra powers to prevent anti-social behaviour in the town centre and seafront.

The Section 35 Order was in force for 48 hours and gave officers the power to disperse and ban anyone from the area who had or was likely to commit an offence.

During the autumn there were reports of a group of teenagers causing trouble in the town centre and at the bus station.

Up to 50 young people and their parents were written to by police in October with a warning about their behaviour.

They were told that they faced being issued with official anti-social behaviour warnings from Torbay Council.

The letters said that if offences continued after a third warning the police would gather evidence to take them to court for a civil injunction.

The town police team revealed the latest action in an update on New Year’s Day.

An image posted on its Facebook page showed a pile of pages of evidence gathered by an officer to support the first injunction case.

A statement said: “Once complete, this evidence shall be sent to court along with the offender.

“Civil Injunctions can come with conditions such as; not to associate with certain individuals, not to be in certain locations (for example – Paignton Town Centre including the Bus Station, Lidl Square, Victoria Park and residential areas such as Foxhole) not to be in groups of a certain number and to comply with curfews. 

“Breaching Civil Induction conditions will result in arrest, the offender will be taken back to court within 24 hours and can be given a detention order of up to 3 months if they are between the ages of 14-17.

“This is the first Civil Injunction Paignton Police are pursuing and once this is complete there are at least five others we are looking to take to court. Any additional offenders will go through the same process.

“As previously stated, we are reluctant to criminalise children and take them to court but there are some who leave us with no other option.

“They can’t say we didn’t warn them!”

The case seeking a civil injunction against offenders is made up of evidence from police officers and others including schools, social services, Torbay Council and the youth offending team.

In October a senior Paignton councillor warned there were three youth gangs operating in Paignton with some individuals carrying knives.

Cllr Chris Lewis spoke out as Torbay councillors considered a report by Healthwatch that found young people were concerned about crime, violence, gangs and bullying.