Crackdown on nuisance neighbours
New plans to protect the victims of anti-social behaviour from intimidation have been announced by the Government today.
Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor says people who are plagued by nuisance neighbours will be given greater protection to encourage them to give evidence in court.
Under the plans the victims of anti-social behaviour will be screened from defendants in court and permitted to give evidence by video link .
“If they are giving evidence against people who live in their own communities, that’s a terrifying and sometimes intimidating experience,” Lord Falconer told BBC News.
“You need to give people confidence they will be protected.”
The Government also plans to increase the number of courts specialising in anti-social behaviour from 12 to 41.
The Lord Chancellor said the new rules could come into force by next spring, but denied that the proposals were in “any sense geared” to the general election.
The announcement of the proposals precedes the publication of a review examining the impact of legislation to deal with “street thuggery”, introduced a year ago.
The report is expected to reveal a sharp rise in the use of anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos), dispersal orders, acceptable behaviour contracts and fixed penalty notices.
Victims of Crime Trust director Norman Brennan told the BBC that the introduction of Asbos had come too late to deal with many cases.
“We have allowed young offenders in particular to get away with so much crime and behave in such an appallingly bad way that now, by the time we implement Asbos in some of these cases, they are beyond certain redemption,” he said.
