Latest news with #Anti-SocialBehaviourOrder
Press and Journal
07-05-2025
- Press and Journal
ASBO man avoids jail after ignoring ban on drinking in public
A man who is banned from being drunk in public spaces throughout Aberdeenshire has narrowly avoided jail – after he was caught 'heavily intoxicated' in Inverurie. Christopher Ettles, 39, was placed under the sweeping Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) four years ago at Banff Sheriff Court. Appearing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court last week, Ettles admitted one breach of that order, after police found him drunk as they aided a taxi driver, who was having difficulty getting him to pay a fare. Refused to leave the taxi The court was told Ettles was also refusing to leave the cab, at around 2.45am on February 2 this year. Fiscal depute Lydia Williams said Ettles was 'heavily intoxicated' and was 'making no sense'. When police arrived at the taxi, which was on Inverurie's Market Street, they carried out check which showed up Ettles' ASBO. Ettles also admitted to acting in a threatening and abusive manner to staff in the Co-op shop in Alford on April 27, 2025. Aggressive behaviour Ms Williams told the court Ettles had gone there at 8.30pm and had become 'hostile' to staff who had phoned the police. When police officers arrived at the shop, Ettles made threats to the staff saying he would 'slash them' and 'cut them to pieces' and 'kill them', the court heard. 'He was shouting at the officers,' Ms Williams went on. 'And was then cautioned and arrested and taken to Kittybrewster Custody Suite.' Ettles' defence solicitor Chris Maitland said his client 'very much regrets' his actions and cited his background report, which reads: 'It is still possible to turn his life around.' Attending AA classes He said Ettles had recently been enjoying a 'spell of sobriety' and was attending Alcoholic Anonymous classes online. 'He is trying,' Mr Maitland said. 'But knows he is still struggling.' Mr Maitland asked for a deferred sentence to 'see how he gets on' with an ongoing Community Payback Order of unpaid hours, adding: 'And to see if he can get a handle on things.' Last year in December, Ettles was given community service for being drunk in public and in possession of a knife. Warning that jail is looming Sheriff Lesley Johnston spoke to Ettles and said: 'I have told you repeatedly that you need to sort out this alcohol addiction. 'You are in a cycle, getting so far, then falling back into alcohol misuse, then back to court. 'Given your record, I would have been minded to impose a custodial sentence without the need for another report. 'However, I am going to give you another chance to turn this around. 'You must take steps, because you are staring down the barrel of a lengthy custodial sentence if you do not.' 'Please try harder' She placed Ettles under a further Community Payback Order of 60 hours of unpaid work for threatening the shop staff. Ettles, of Daviot, was admonished for breaching his ASBO. Sheriff Johnston urged Ettles to 'please try harder' as he left the dock.
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Banbury business leaders question anti-social behaviour bill
Plans to tackle anti-social behaviour have been backed by an MP despite business leaders doubting the schemes' government introduced a raft of measures including action against shoplifting, as part of its flagship Crime and Policing Bill last Labour MP Sean Woodcock, said his Oxfordshire constituents "wholeheartedly" welcomed the new the chair of Banbury's Chamber of Commerce said the new bill was "almost like dressing up for an occasion and then not being able to go". Derek Hattenbach said shoplifting and anti-social behaviour were "very great problems", and were "putting people out of business" in the market town."Action is needed, but unfortunately just putting in place legislation to show the public you mean to do well is a very different thing from actually having police officers on the ground to act," he Hattenbach said Banbury didn't have the "man power" in terms of policing to "deal with the street crime as it is"."If you haven't got them [police officers] there in the first place, then purely and simply it's just a soundbite for the population unfortunately," he added. 'Devastating impact' Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said there were "some useful things" in the new accepted that, despite a "big increase" in neighbourhood police officers over recent years, he would "desperately like to have more".He said that additional government funding was due, but added that it would only pay for 50 new officers across the Thames the bill, proposed Respect Orders would allow courts to impose restrictions on an individual's behaviour, just like an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) - which were abolished in would also be able to compel offenders to attend programmes such as addiction treatment or anger management courses."Antisocial behaviour chips away at our communities' confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims," Woodcock said."My constituents will welcome the introduction of tough new Respect Orders, and government action on shoplifting cannot come soon enough."Addressing concerns over how the bill could be enforced, Woodcock said the measures would be "backed up by the recruitment of police officers"."We need to make sure we have people on the streets able to resource this and those are our plans," he added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
