Parents of binge-drinking teenagers threatened with jail in Government crackdown

Parents who fail to stop their teenage children binge-drinking or ‘persistently possessing’ alcohol in town centres and streets face heavy fines, community service orders and even jail.

A new Government crackdown will target the parents of drunken, abusive youngsters who repeatedly defy attempts to stop them creating disorder in public places.

Under plans to be unveiled by a trio of Cabinet Ministers, the Government will pledge to create a new offence for under-18s of ‘persistently possessing alcohol in public areas’ and give police new powers to disperse them.

Fines of up to £1,000 and community sentences – potentially involving clearing up the mess created by underage sons and daughters drinking – will be handed out to people who refuse to take action under an extension of existing parenting orders.

The new-style orders are designed ‘to be used on those parents of young people repeatedly caught drinking in public’, Home Office sources said.
Any parents who flout the orders risk being sent to prison.

There would also be a new regime of parenting contracts to tackle anti-social behaviour by particular families, although these will be voluntary.

The Youth Alcohol Action Plan, to be jointly unveiled by Ms Smith, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, is also expected to introduce a new ‘two strikes and you’re out’ system for off-licences whereby retailers caught selling alcohol to underage youths more than once in three months would be shut down.

The crackdown comes amid growing concern over public disorder and underage drinking, with figures showing that youngsters who consume alcohol are drinking more and more.

Roughly one in five 11 to 15-year-olds drinks regularly, with their average consumption doubling between 1990 and 2000, according to Government sources.

The sources quoted evidence that youngsters who had been drunk once a month or more in the past year were ‘twice as likely to commit an offence as those who had not’.

Ms Smith said: ‘Groups of under-18s drinking in public are an all too familiar sight. This type of drinking increases anti-social behaviour and crime and puts young people in vulnerable situations. And I want to stop it.

‘Parents must play their role. I want to see greater use of parenting orders and contracts, and anti-social behaviour orders where young people are caught persistently drinking in public.’

But last night, the Tories poured cold water on the plans. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: ‘Parenting orders were first piloted in 2000, yet we have little evidence of whether they’ve made an impact.

‘These measures are no substitute for robust law enforcement, strengthening families and restoring discipline in schools. We need action across all of these levels to fix our broken society.’