Teenager banned from seeing friends and family member for three years

Posted on 22 July 2024, at 14:38 in In Court

A teenager has been given a Criminal Behaviour Order which bans him from associating with five of his friends and a member of his family for three years.

Magistrates granted an application for the CBO from our Anti-Social Behaviour team after the 17-year-old boy failed to adhere to lower-level sanctions and refused to work with agencies offering him support.

The order was imposed at Bristol Magistrates Court last week after the boy initially failed to sign a Community Protection Warning and then subsequently breached a Community Protection Notice.

During the court hearing, the boy admitted engaging in persistent anti-social and criminal behaviour mainly in the St Pauls area of Bristol but denied breaching the CPN only for officers to show the court footage of him breaching it.

In addition to banning him from associating with six named individuals, the CBO also prevents the boy from:

Entering any part of East Bristol unless it is to attend an appointment with his solicitors, police, Safer Options or to attend court.
Posting; featuring in; or being present at the filming of any audio/video that encourages violence or expresses positive views about violence.
Wearing or carrying a balaclava or face covering in a public place save for on advice from the NHS.

***The CBO bans the boy from entering anywhere inside the area outlined in black***

Inspector Tom Tooth said: “Our aim is always to help young people make the right choices and steer them away from criminality.

“We’ve been working closely with other agencies for several months to do everything we can to change this boy’s behaviour however he has repeatedly rejected the support being offered to him.

“His conduct is more than just anti-social. He’s believed to be involved in the supply of drugs and is linked to several assaults as well as incidents in which people have been threatened with bladed weapons.

“Members of the public are so scared of this boy that they are reluctant to support a criminal prosecution for fear of reprisals.

“People should feel safe in their communities and should have confidence in the criminal justice system to hold offenders accountable for their actions.

“The CBO is designed to stop this boy from continuing his behaviour and aims to allow the communities within East Bristol the ability to safely go about their lives without fear of being a target or becoming a victim of his actions.

“It’s rare that CBOs are granted for young people for longer than 12 months. This case sends a clear message that young people who become involved in crime and who actively don’t attempt to change their behaviour can expect to find themselves subject to orders with life changing conditions.

“If they breach the conditions set out by a CBO they can be arrested and potentially fined or even imprisoned.”