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Kids get in free - as long as they have an Asbo
Last updated at 14:22pm on 25.05.07
Teen thugs will get free entry into the London Dungeon - other families will have to pay full price
Yobs will get free entry to one of Britain's top tourist attractions this weekend - if they've got ASBOs.
Teen thugs with orders for terrorising their neighbours, binge drinking and serial theft will be handed free entry to the London Dungeon - but well-behaved families will have to fork out more than £70.
The move has sparked fury from MPs and youth workers.
Thanks to the Asbo deal louts can tip tips some of history's greatest rogues - with attractions dedicated to killers Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd.
They can also try thrills and spills on "Traitor - The boat ride to hell" and check out a range of guillotines, thumb screws and other chilling torture devices.
Serial nuisances with ASBOs for arson can even swot up on an exhibit dedicated to the Great Fire of London.
While the teenagers stroll in free, normal families buying peak time fast track tickets, entitling them to entry between 10.30am and 1pm will be charged a staggering £71.80 for a family of four (two adults and two children).
One 14-year-old hoodie from Croydon, south London said: "Other kids already think I'm hard because I've got an Asbo - and this is even better.
"If we're getting treats like this its only going to encourage my pals to get an Asbo too."
Harriet Harman, MP for nearby Camberwell and Peckham, is among those to condemn the scheme.
She said: "The message it sends out and the atmosphere it creates is not appropriate."
Youth worker Jennifer Blake, who runs a youth centre in Peckham, added: "I think it's totally disgusting."?
Colin Thomas from the London Dungeon defended the decision to allow ASBO kids in free - insisting it is appropriate because it makes a comparison between today's petty yobbery and similar offences in the 18th century.
Reader views (3)
I think it is a good idea to send ASBO offenders to the London Dungeons and I disagree with the public discriminating against young offenders, this hostility is only adding to the construction of animosity against the public; dont they understand that these children come from dysfuntional backgrounds and this is all part of the problem.
- Joanne Matin, London
So they're letting Asbo kids in free to see how criminals were punished hundreds of years ago. Presumably the equivalent of the London Dungeon in 24th century London will have an exhibition showing the punishments we mete out nowadays. Thus there will be a display showing yobs being let in free to the London Dungeon while law abiding families are queuing to pay. I wonder what these future citizens will make of our methods.
- Lawrence Dimery, London
What the hell is this country coming to rewarding kids with asbos, well obviously I've done the wrong thing then by bringing mine up with respect for other people and their property... unbelievable move by Colin Thomas... guess not many people will be visiting there then.
- Sarah, London
