An exchange with Charon QC turned my mind to asbos. For the benefit of overseas readers, an asbo is an anti-social behaviour order. These orders are imposed by the courts telling people that they may not do things deemed to be - um - antisocial. It is a typically crass and controlling provision but that is another story. The exchange was about weird asbos. I did a little research. Here is some of the product.
RHUBARB ASBO
Margaret Porter, 50, from North Yorkshire, was given a six-year asbo for attacking her brother with a stick of rhubarb in March last year.
TRAMPOLINE ASBO
A child with autism was threatened with an asbo because he was trampolining in his own garden and making strange noises that caused distress to neighbours.
SUICIDE ASBO
Kim Sutton from Bath, who has tried to commit suicide four times, received an asbo banning her from jumping into rivers, canals or on to railway lines.
ANSWERING THE DOOR NAKED ASBO
Caroline Shepherd, 27, was given an asbo in April after neighbours complained about her wearing skimpy underwear when answering her door in Lanarkshire.
FEEDING THE BIRDS ASBO
Jean Smith, 60, a retired teacher is banned from putting bread out to feed the birds at her home in Burntisland and anywhere in Fife.
CONDOM ASBO
A Manchester Prostitute was given an asbo prohibiting her from carrying condoms.
SQUIRREL THREATENED ASBO
A couple in their 70s were threatened with an asbo for feeding squirrels in their back garden.
The asbo nonsense really says it all about the present government - illiberal, bossy and hectoring. More seriously, it is apparent that the recipients of the asbos tend to be the vulnerable and the needy and not all is comedy. Here are a couple of shockers...
One of the more shocking cases of an asbo being served involved a client of Shelter who lived with her husband and teenage daughter. Her daughter had Crohn's Disease and she was disabled and suffered from severe depression. Following the imposition of an asbo on the husband the whole family were evicted and deemed to be intentionally homeless. The husband subsequently lost his job and they have been living in the Shelter client's mother's one bedroom flat ever since.
Leonard Hockney died in jail after breaching an asbo banning him from begging.
Get rid of the bloody things!!!
14 comments:
i read that a pig and a sheep got ASBOS too, well the owners did because the pets didn't behave in a socially acceptable manner. The sheep legged it all the time and went to the local cemetary to graze.
Cannot remember what the pig got accused off...
ASBOS have to be THE most stupid idea since wotsisface at Apple decided to give Bill Gates the DOS operating system practically for free; the words "foolish" and "moronic" spring instantaneously to mind when thinking about both...!
Man, that is one thing I'm glad we Americans don't have. What's the legal support for something like that?
Completely agree. And, of course, your genuinely anti-social chav never feels like he's 'made it' in the world of chavdom until he's picked up an ASBO or three. It's like a badge of honour he can pin through his Burberry polo shirt.
It was typical 'Blairist' legislation, really. From the book of 'how to look like you're doing something about a problem when it reality you're not even touching the sides of it'.
Unvelievable honestly! The best thing about the UK now is a flight out of the bloody country. I am totally stunned at the stupidity of some of the laws & 'behavioural' guidelines the British government has in place. I refuse point blank to ever live in the place again & will truly go out of my way to avoid even flying via Heathrow or Gatwick.
(I followed a link from Ron Knee's page to get here :-))
Blimey... I didn't think this place was all that bad... :-/
Jayne :)
I do understand the urge to avoid Gatwick and Heathrow (the carpets make your shoes stick to them like in the cheap dives of my misspent youth) but there are many good things in Britain.
On a personal note, Mowbry's Porkpies are my main reason for residency.
There could be worse places to live...so, Cheezy, things are not all bad,eh ! The day they slap an ASBO on that nice Mister Mowbray I emigrate back to the Gulag
Pork pies sound delicious right about now.
asbos sound like a good idea for the government to take over the parenting of everybody in the country. Sort of like a grounding. Get home from work late last night? No sweets for you.
Get rid of ASBOs? Get - out - of -it Wabbittt.
They do work.
Your stories are not the whole truth.
P finds it hysterical that a chap like you shoudl be declaring a free for all of loutishness - when all along you want the louts to leave your Blog alone.
ASBO's for Wabbitt's Blog NOW !!!
That 50 year old with the glasses and baseball cap....needs and ASBO now.
Ananas, are you begging?
btw.. baseball caps are very good for the balding.Prevents the rest of us going blind when we look at the back of their heads,thus cannot be classified as anti social behaviour.
qed
;)
How long would it take me to get to Ms Shepherd's place in Lanarkshire from here?
If you have really unreasonable and anti-social neighbours the ASBO can and does work and seems to have to stand in place of parents and neighbours' ability to discipline their own and others' kids. Some do sound ridiculous, but then some people do keep on doing the most ridiculous things which have the effect of lowering other people's enjoyment of life.
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