Asbo for the 'Shameless' family banned from walking the streets together

The Brien family described as "worse than neighbours from hell" have been served with an Asbo after terrorising their local community of Buckfastleigh on the edge of Dartmoor for more than a decade.

The reign of terror by Leslie Brien, 48, and his three sons - Dean, 26, Darren, 23, and 18-year-old Jimmy - came to an end after a court issued them with the Asbo which has 15 prohibitions including being together in public in the Teignbridge area of Devon.

Buckfastleigh is best known for its monks who live and work at nearby Buckfast Abbey.

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Sixty-nine complaints against the four have been logged by police this year ranging from fighting in the street with neighbours and each other, slashing tyres, domestic abuse, fraud, threats to kill, drink driving, drugs offences and criminal damage.

PC Alison Hooper told Totnes magistrates that the Briens, who live in Gipsy Lane, Buckfastleigh, are "worse than neighbours from hell".

The Buckfastleigh Neighbourhood Beat Manager told the court that the Briens had been dubbed "the Buckfastleigh Mafia" and the street where they live as "Beirut".

The Briens have been banned from every pub in the town and neighbouring Ashburton town since 2004.

Peter Quinn, Devon and Cornwall police's legal advisor, said the Briens were an "infamous family" and possibly one of the worst in the West Country.

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He said: "This is by far the worst order I have come across. People are physically exhausted by and certainly emotionally and mentally terrified by these people. People have been subjected to abuse on a daily and nightly basis."

He said their victims have been too scared to come forward because of fear of reprisals.

PC Hooper said: "The family are intimidating and abusive, not just to members of the public but also to police officers. Unless people live in Gipsy Lane, people will not go down the lane unless they have to."

She said the Brien name was notorious within a 20 mile radius of where they live.

She said: "In that radius people fear for the safety of themselves and their families at the hands of the Briens. They are absolutely petrified of them."

Neighbour Sally Robinson said: "I'm on antidepressants because of them. I'm over the moon about the Asbo. I would be pleased if they weren't here. I could feel a lot safer. They are scary people."

Another neighbour, Lynn Parsons, said: "I think it is the best thing since sliced bread. They harass everybody here all the time. Let's hope for a quiet and peaceful Christmas."

The 15 prohibitions on the Briens, which cover England and Wales, include not acting in an antisocial manner, drinking in public, having contact with each other, being part of a group of four or more people, causing noise or disturbance in their street, fighting or shouting, parking badly and damaging property.