It was good being out with the police last Friday, but I was horrified to witness the destruction being done to our town. We encountered around 35 youths causing mayhem.
They messed up the lavatories in McDonald’s, moments after they had been cleaned. They then went on to terrorise the residents of Shaw Street.
Some of them were as young as 13 years old. They were doing what they wanted, wherever they wanted and to whom they wanted. Can you believe that none of their parents knew what they were up to?
For years I’ve wanted the police to be given the disciplinary powers that parents aren’t exercising in these situations. We’re still a long way from this, judging by Friday’s evidence.
The ringleader has been given ASBOs which, technically, are only broken if they go into certain areas. But otherwise they are free to do what they want.
Shouldn’t there be a process, even if they haven’t broken the terms of their ASBO, through which these ringleaders can be fast tracked through the courts to get their ASBO extended and varied?
Can we not enable the police to act without having to go through the whole process of getting people to testify?
Local residents feel intimidated, as though they’re prisoners in their own homes, particularly at night when the ringleaders and their mates are wearing hoods.
Our police need to be given more powers to root out the perpetrators and to remove them from our streets.