Anti-social youths spark dispersal order in town
A dispersal order has been put in place in a town after groups of youths were found to be "intimidating, threatening and frightening people".
The order in Maghull on Merseyside, which runs until 23:00 BST and includes the town's main parks, follows recent incidents of antisocial behaviour as seen at Maghull Cricket Club.
Young people were fighting on the cricket field - some armed with hammers - during a junior coaching session last month.
Sefton Neighbourhood Inspector Kenneth Sumner said the dispersal order was to "make sure that everyone can feel safe in Sefton".
The order gives police and police community support traffic officers the power to order people to leave an area if they are suspected of committing, or being likely to commit, a criminal offence or anti-social behaviour.
Maghull Cricket Club has made about 25 police reports since July last year about people harassing players, setting off fireworks and vandalising its equipment.
It is now seeking funding to help with the costs of building a large fence.
Insp Sumner said: "We will not tolerate groups intimidating, threatening and frightening people visiting, living and working in the Maghull area, or anywhere across Merseyside."
He said many groups of young people had "stayed out of trouble, socialising with friends", but "some have been involved in anti-social behaviour".
The issue was "a top priority" and the force was working with local businesses and the council and examining CCTV to identify suspects, he added.
Under the legislation officers have the power to seize any item including vehicles and it is an offence for anyone directed to leave the area to return.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Cricket club to put up fence after fight on pitch
Antisocial youths driving out members - cricket club
Merseyside Police
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
UK 'shied away' from ethnicity of grooming gangs in child sex abuse inquiries, report finds
LONDON (AP) — The UK government said Monday it will make it mandatory for the police to record the ethnicity and nationality of suspects accused of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The move is part of an attempt to address long-running accusations that authorities have 'shied away' from properly tackling the issue of race when investigating such cases. It comes came after the government announced Saturday that it will hold a national inquiry into organized child sexual abuse, something it has long been pressured to do by opposition politicians. In a statement to Parliament, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said a recent review of data from three police forces found 'clear evidence of over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani heritage men' who prey on often young and vulnerable girls and women. But the review found that ethnicity data was not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators in what the British press have dubbed 'grooming gang' crimes. 'The appalling lack of data on ethnicity in crime recording alone is a major failing over the last decade or more,' said the review, overseen by Louise Casey, an expert on victim's rights and social welfare. 'Questions about ethnicity have been asked but dodged for years.' 'Child sexual exploitation is horrendous whoever commits it, but there have been enough convictions across the country of groups of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds to have warranted closer examination,' it added. The review referred to examples of organizations that avoided the topic of race altogether 'for fear of appearing racist or raising community tensions.' It said: 'The question of the ethnicity of perpetrators has been a key question for this audit, having been raised in inquiries and reports going back many years. We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, so we are unable to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data.' Cooper noted that while Casey's review also identified cases in which perpetrators were white, British, European, or other ethnicities, there wasn't enough information to help prevent patterns of crime from being understood and tackled. Britain's justice system has seen multiple cases of underage girls — some as young as 10, and others who were vulnerable because they were in social care or had disabilities — sexually exploited by groups of men in different towns and cities in the 2000s and 2010s. In some of the most high-profile cases to come to trial, the perpetrators were men of Pakistani heritage and the victims were predominantly white girls. The issue has been taken up by right-of-center politicians including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to link child sexual abuse to immigration. It was more recently stoked by Elon Musk, who took to his X platform earlier this year to condemn Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the issue. Cooper said Monday that as a further step to tackle the issue, laws will be changed so that any adult man who engages in penetrative sex with a child under 16 will face a mandatory rape charge. Officials also said detectives will follow up on more than 800 cold cases involving child sex abuse by grooming gangs. A seven-year inquiry was held under the previous Conservative government, but many of the 20 recommendations it made in 2022 — including compensation for abuse victims — have yet to be implemented.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Key takeaways from grooming gangs report
A review into abuse carried out by grooming gangs in England and Wales has been published. The government asked Baroness Casey to carry out the audit, examining existing data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse, in January. Here are some of its key findings and recommendations. The report highlights flaws in data collection, which it says means it is not possible to assess the scale of the issue. It cites the Complex and Organised Child Abuse Dataset which identified around 700 recorded offences of group-based child sexual exploitation in 2023, saying this is the only figure on group-based child sexual exploitation. The report says this is highly unlikely to reflect the true scale of the issue, given this crime is under-reported and suffers from confusing and inconsistently applied definitions. One key data gap highlighted by the report is on ethnicity, which is described as "appalling" and a "major failing". It says the ethnicity of perpetrators is "shied away from" and still not recorded in two-thirds of cases, meaning it is not possible to draw conclusions at a national level. However, the report says there is enough evidence from police data in three areas - Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire - to show disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic background amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation. It adds that the significant number of perpetrators of Asian ethnicity identified in local reviews and high-profile prosecutions across the country also warrants further examination. The report says more effort is needed to explore why it appears perpetrators of Asian and Pakistani ethnicity are disproportionately represented in some areas. In response, the government has said it will make it a formal requirement to collect both ethnicity and nationality data for all cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as commission new research into the cultural and social drivers of the issue. The review also notes a significant proportion of live cases appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals or claiming asylum in the UK. The government said it was bringing forward changes so anyone convicted of sexual offences would have their asylum claim rejected and be denied refugee status. Follow live updates and reaction to the report 'The abuse was almost daily' - grooming survivors share their stories Over the weekend, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accepted the report's recommendation that there should be a full national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales. The PM had previously dismissed calls for a national inquiry, arguing the issues had already been examined in a seven-year investigation by Prof Alexis Jay, which concluded in 2022. Instead the government commissioned Baroness Casey's review and unveiled plans for five local inquiries - to be held in Oldham and four other areas yet to be named. However, Baroness Casey said she changed her mind on the need for a national inquiry, after being "duly unimpressed" that more local councils did not volunteer to set up their own inquiries and some organisations were reluctant to talk to her own investigators. Her report recommends both a national police operation to review cases of child exploitation not acted on, as well as a national inquiry. It says this would be overseen by an Independent Commission, with full powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence, and should be time-limited and targeted. The inquiry would review cases of failures by local services to identify areas where investigations should be instigated and coordinate a series of targeted local investigations. The report also recommends tightening the law in England and Wales so adults who have sex with a child under 16 are always charged with rape, calling on society to "see children as children". Despite the age of consent being 16, it says there are too many examples of child sexual exploitation cases being dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges where a teenager has been "in love with" or "consented to" sex with the perpetrator. In response, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has pledged to change the law as the report recommends, as well as work with the Crown Prosecution Service and police to ensure there are safeguards for consensual teenage relationships. She also accepted a recommendation to review criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation, "so that those convicted for child prostitution offences while their rapists got of scot-free will have their convictions disregarded and their criminal records expunged". Taxis have previously been identified as a way children can be at risk of sexual exploitation, both as a potential way for perpetrators to meet their victims, as well as traffic them to different locations. Taxi licenses are issued by local authorities but the report points out that some areas are much more stringent in their processes to protect children. For example, in Rotherham the council has introduced taxi cameras and a 100% pass mark requirement for safeguarding tests for drivers. However, the report says these efforts have been hindered by more lax approaches in other areas and legal loopholes which mean drivers can apply for a license anywhere in the country but then operate in another area. It calls for this loophole to be closed immediately and for more rigorous licensing standards to be introduced. Fears children at risk due to taxi driver licensing Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Grooming gangs scandal: Damning key findings from the Casey review
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced details in the Commons of the review by Dame Louise Casey into Britain's grooming gangs scandal. She stressed the 'damning' findings were a 'stain on society' in the UK with appalling cases of abuse in a string of towns including Rochdale, Oldham, Rotherham and Oxford . The key findings include: * Children need to be treated as children * Too many grooming cases have been dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges because 13 to 15-year-olds were perceived to have been 'in love with or consented to sex' with the perpetrators * The law should be changed so adult men who groom and have sex with 13–15-yearolds received mandatory charges of rape * In three police force areas, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, where high-profile cases involving Pakistani-heritage men have long been investigated and reported, the suspects of 'group based child sexual offences were disproportionately likely to be Asian men' * 'Ignoring the issues, not examining and exposing them to the light allows the criminality and depravity of a minority of men to be used to marginalise whole communities'. * In a dozen live, complex, group-based child sexual exploitation police operations, a significant proportion of these cases appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals and/or who are claiming asylum in the UK * Two thirds of overall cases had no ethnicity data recorded. The Government should make mandatory the collection of ethnicity and nationality data for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases * Grooming gang prosecutions and investigations had also been identified where the alleged perpetrators are White British, European, African and Middle Eastern * There is 'continued denial, resistance and legal wrangling' among local agencies on grooming gangs * Further local investigation are needed but they should be overseen by a national commission with statutory inquiry powers * A national criminal operation is needed to catch more grooming gang paedophiles, which will be overseen by the National Crime Agency * With taxi drivers using their vehicles to target vulnerable teenagers, the Department for Transport should take immediate action to put a stop to 'out of area taxis' and bring in more rigorous statutory standards for local authority licensing and regulation of taxi drivers. * Around 500,000 children a year are likely to experience child sexual abuse (of any kind). * However, for the vast majority, their abuse is not identified, and it is not reported to the police either at the time or later * Police recorded crime data shows just over 100,000 offences of child sexual abuse and exploitation recorded in 2024, with around 60% of these being contact offences (and the remainder online offences) * Of these contact offences, an estimated 17,100 are 'flagged' by police as child sexual exploitation in police recorded crime data * The only figure on group-based child sexual exploitation comes from a new police dataset (called the Complex and Organised Child Abuse 7 Dataset - COCAD) which, while suffering a number of limitations, has identified around 700 recorded offences of group-based child sexual exploitation in 2023. * National police data confirms that the majority of victims of child sexual exploitation are girls (78% in 2023) with the most common age for victims being between 10 and 15 years old (57% in 2023). * Most perpetrators are men (76% in 2023). The data suggests that the age profile of perpetrators varies, with 39% of suspects aged 10 to 15 and 18% aged 18 to 29. This younger age profile is likely to be resulting from an increase in reporting of online and child-on-child offending
