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Teenage yobs will be given instant penalties instead of Asbos under a Tory government, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling vowed today.
Mr Grayling said he favoured quick intervention against anti-social young people through grounding orders, community punishments and confiscation of items such as iPods.
The move follows evidence that the Government's Asbo policy has failed to tackle youth crime. Recent Home Office research shows some 72 per cent of 10- to 25-year-olds admit being behind at least one episode of crime or anti-social behaviour over the past four years. A third say they had committed an assault, more than a quarter a theft and one in 10 said they had sold drugs.
Mr Grayling said Asbos take months to put into place and should be used as a last resort.
Anti-social behaviour orders were introduced by Tony Blair in 1998 and by 2005, 55 per cent were being breached. Critics said they were often used as an excuse to delay real sanctions.
A Tory government would instead encourage police to use their discretion to negotiate "informal solutions" when dealing with bad behaviour.
This might mean an apology to a victim, a penalty agreed with parents or digging the garden of the person whose fence they have knocked down.
Mr Grayling said: "Asbos are routinely abused. They are convoluted and complicated to implement and are the wrong measure for dealing with first-time young troublemakers.
"They should become more of a last resort if nothing else is working. I don't want to give lots of 13-year-olds criminal records that will stop them getting jobs. But we do want them to know that you can't just get away with it."
Mr Grayling was speaking at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College in London.
Reader views (3)
Bring back the birch, if you could look back on records of young men who received the birch back when it was legal I,ll bet none of them ever reoffended and the decent people of this country would be able to have some peace in their own homes
- Trisha, blantyre, 24/01/2010 23:02
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What a joke!!! I'll vote for the party that ditches ASBOs and brings back flogging ...
- Andy, London, 17/11/2009 13:32
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SOFT ON CRIME - SOFT ON THE CAUSES OF CRIME!!
Don't bother confiscating their I-Pods Mr Grayling - they'll only go and mug some poor bugger and pinch theirs.
Effective punishment only please.
- Anil Chatterjee, Manchester, 17/11/2009 13:20
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