Latest news with #CrimeAndPolicingBill
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Chatham MP says new powers will tackle 'menace' of nuisance bikes
An MP says a change in the law will strengthen the police's power to tackle the "menace" of nuisance new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, currently going through Parliament, will mean police can seize and crush vehicles without advance warning. It comes after residents have described parts of Chatham as like the "wild west", with reports of gangs of people on motorbikes and quadbikes speeding across parks, taking over streets and threatening members of the Osborne, the MP for Chatham and Aylesford, says the previous rules didn't allow vehicles to be seized unless the rider had committed multiple offences, but the new law will act as a "deterrent". Police usually classify 'nuisance vehicle' crimes as people gathering in gangs on bikes or quad resident Daniel Baptist says he's noticed gangs of "20 plus motorbikes going up and down the local streets"."They won't be wearing helmets, some of them," he said."Some of them are on e-bikes, some are on illegal scramblers."It frightens the hell out of some of the older residents in the area. They can be extremely noisy. Especially when you've got gangs of 20 of them riding up the road at the same time."It can be extremely noisy and quite intimidating." Last year, Medway Council attempted to tackle the issue by introducing a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) across Medway, meaning any motorist or bike rider caught causing nuisance could be fined and taken to some residents say people are still gathering and carrying out anti-social behaviour on their vehicles at sites like Barnfield Recreation Ground in Chatham, despite the strengthened powers available to local issue is documented by a social media profile called @Barnfield_Bikes. The owner of the account spoke to the BBC but didn't want to be identified for fear of his said: "There have been incidents where residents have been threatened because they've challenged riders. They've ridden around them in an intimidatory manner."It's out of control… like the Wild West." Insp Paul Diddams, from the Medway Community Safety Unit at Kent Police, said the area "remains a priority for both uniformed and plain clothed officers"."Over the last five weeks patrols, both on foot and in vehicles, have attended 32 times," he said."These patrols included attendance on nine separate occasions over the past weekend."Alex Paterson, councillor for community safety, highways and enforcement on Medway Council, says there have been 106 fixed penalty notices issued across Medway since the introduction of the said it was "clear that police are using their powers", despite it sometimes being "dangerous" for welcomed the government's plans to allow officers to seize vehicles on a first offence."We are keen to give the police as many tools as we can to tackle this so I would welcome anything that sent a clearer message to the criminals".
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Protesters who climb Churchill statue to be threatened with jail
Protesters who climb on Winston Churchill's statue in London could face up to three months in jail. Under new laws, desecrating the bronze sculpture of Britain's wartime leader could also land offenders with a fine of up to £1,000. Despite not being classified as one of the UK's war memorials, new plans will see the 12ft figure protected by the Crime and Policing Bill. Sir Keir Starmer said: 'Sir Winston Churchill stands at the summit of our country's greatest heroes, and has been an inspiration to every prime minister that has followed him. 'The justifiable fury that is provoked when people use his statue as a platform for their protests speaks to the deep and enduring love that all decent British people have for Sir Winston. 'It is the least we owe him, and the rest of the greatest generation, to make those acts criminal.' Standing in Parliament Square at the location he supposedly picked, the statue was unveiled by Clementine, his widow, at a ceremony in 1973. It will now join the Cenotaph in Whitehall, the Royal Artillery Memorial in Hyde Park and many other famous structures across Britain, in having protected status in a move made to commemorate the Armed Forces in the First and Second World Wars. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said of the decision: 'As the country comes together to celebrate VE Day, it is only right that we ensure Winston Churchill's statue is treated with the respect and reverence it deserves, along with the other sacred war memorials around our country.' Churchill's statue has been a regular target for demonstrators in recent years. During Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, protestors sprayed the statue with graffiti, crossing out his name and writing 'was a racist' on the plinth. In October last year, his statue was protected by a ring of steel barriers as far-Right demonstrators clashed with an anti-fascist counter-protest. Trans rights activists climbed on it last month while waving placards and flags from its plinth in protest against the Supreme Court's ruling on the legal definition of a woman. Churchill's legacy has been revised in recent years, with some academics and activists arguing that he was a racist imperialist who was responsible for the Bengal famine. It was reported drawings, prints and photographs of the Second World War leader had been removed from Parliament in February, following the arrival of new MPs in Westminster.
