YOB RULE

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An old soldier has been forced to live in darkness in his boarded-up house after an 18-month campaign of vandalism by yobs who have smashed all the front windows of his home. Fred Field, of Wyndham Street, Alvaston, has seen youths smash his lounge, bedroom and garage windows with stones and rubble and want police to put a stop to a long series of incidents that started in October 2003. A concrete wall at the front of his house has also been damaged, drainpipes pulled away from walls, obscenities scrawled on his front door and a door handle broken. On four occasions incidents have been reported to police and with no more windows to smash at the front of the house, the vandals broke wooden boards on the porch.

Five joyriding teenagers, aged between 13 and 16, were killed when the stolen car they were travelling in hit a kerb and a lamp post and then ploughed into a wall at 100mph. The 15-year-old driver was a convicted thief and mugger, described by his father as a “good boy”. Friends said they had been drinking vodka, cider and lager before stealing the Metro. Witnesses saw the car speeding down a main road in the early hours at St Leonards, East Sussex. Seconds later a police patrol car with blue lights flashing drove past, apparently in pursuit.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission began an investigation into the police car's involvement in the crash and a spokesman said the police officers in the patrol car spotted the Metro at 1.40am after it had been the "subject of a report by a member of the public a few minutes earlier". Two of the dead had ASBOs against them and were under 10pm curfew. Hastings MP Michael Foster said, "There is a lot of anger among young people who think there was a police chase." There's also a lot of anger among people who have their car's nicked and have to put up with these lunatics on the road.

People living in Whittington Street, Allenton, are being plagued by youths who are shouting abuse at them and damaging property. One victim said the tyres had been let down on his van and footballs have been kicked against his windows. Youths climbed into his back garden and used his trampoline, before burning a hole in it with a cigarette. The resident's landlord said the house had been targeted by vandals long before he bought it and almost every window was smashed and it was set on fire. He spent £10,000 completely refurbishing the place and £2,000 putting up a CCTV camera at the back and front, along with metal sheets in the back garden with anti-vandal paint.

Jamie Birks, 15, of Kirkdale Avenue, Spondon, was given a final chance to avoid custody and sentenced to a two-month supervision order plus a three-year anti-social behaviour order. He had pleaded guilty to a string of offences, including theft, criminal damage and reckless driving. Police also said that Birks' behaviour had caused people in Chaddesden and Spondon to feel intimidated and afraid, but Birks had failed to behave himself and had gone on to commit more offences. He burgled a house in Selkirk Street, Chaddesden, on May 26.

He then intimidated the witness in the case, Simon Richards, by threatening him outside his home on May 29. Then he escaped from secure accommodation custody when he was due before Derby Youth Court on June 2. He was also due at court on May 28 in connection with a burglary in Denbigh Street between January 23 and 26, but failed to turn up. The prosecution, told the court that, during the first burglary, at a house under renovation, about £2,500 worth of tools and other equipment had gone missing. During the burglary in Selkirk Street, the householder was woken up by noises at about 4.20am and saw Birks climbing out of his living room window.

Once police had identified him, Birks paid the householder another visit, asking him if he knew about his and his family's reputation, which made the victim feel threatened, the court heard. Birks was arrested and brought to court in custody, but he escaped and was at large for a short period before being apprehended again. Sarah Knight, mitigating, explained that Birks, who pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary, intimidating a witness and escaping from secure accommodation, was immature for his age and had had a difficult upbringing (how sad!) saying, "He's only 15 and the impact that an order that causes him to lose his liberty will have on him is a very potent one."

New police powers to disperse gangs of youths could cause tension with ethnic minorities, senior officers warn. The Association of Chief Police Officers said street gatherings were part of some cultures and breaking up the groups could cause confrontation. Mr Whiteley, who is deputy chief constable of Northamptonshire police said senior officers were urging caution over how the powers are used. In other words, don't do anything that might upset ethnic minorities.

Thousands of vandals, drunks and hoaxers now face on-the-spot fines of up to £80 under a new crackdown on street crime. The move follows Tony Blair's much-mocked promise to have yobs frogmarched to cash machines to be fined for anti-social behaviour. He was forced to back down after police argued it would be impractical. Offenders will get fixed-penalty tickets, like those dished out for speeding, for such offences as being drunk and disorderly, using threatening behaviour, making hoax 999 calls, wasting police time or throwing things at trains.

The fines will range from £40 to £80. Offenders can pay immediately or at a police station and in most cases the tickets will be issued not on the street but in police cells. Police sources have warned that forcing officers to walk around 'like bus conductors' dishing out the tickets could cause new friction between police and communities, (like has happened with motorists) and could mean offences which should be taken more seriously will be dismissed with a ticket. Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said many recipients would simply fail to pay.

A man who complained about yobs terrorising his girlfriend got a letter back saying he should not call them "hoodie scum". Alastair Oram's partner had cones hurled at her car by yobs who blocked off a road in a "no-go" area for locals. Mr Oram, from Rotherham, wrote to police complaining, "Do we take it that Thurcroft is a no-go zone, run by mob rule into which the police are afraid to venture or was it too difficult for you to deal with? What can only be described as a gang of around ten hoodie scum aged about 14 jumped out in front and behind her car with traffic cones and blocked her."

Superintendent Keith Lumley of South Yorkshire Police wrote back, "You can't go branding youths 'hoodie scum' - that doesn't give off the right impression." Superintendent Lumley said his partner phoned police ten minutes after the attack and officers had even checked CCTV footage for the culprits, but to no avail. He added, "We will be attempting to contact the complainant and hope to make it clear that every possible step was taken by officers in this case." (Source: Daily Mail, Aug/07)

A pensioner died when she fell down a manhole after a gang of yobs set a trap for her. Jenny Ward, 80, plunged down the hole left open by thugs on her own driveway. She had been plagued by a group of youths bent on subjecting her to a campaign of anti-social behaviour after she confronted them about hanging around outside her home. They smashed her windows and taunted her for several months calling her "the old bat". But she kept her ordeal secret from her closest friends and tragedy finally struck when the yobs set a deadly trap for her.

The vandals removed the manhole cover from the driveway of her home in Blackpool, Lancs, shortly before she returned home late. She had been working on her jewellery stall which she had run for 50 years, never missing a day. She failed to see the hole and fell three feet. Due to her frailty Jenny couldn't climb out of it and was trapped there for three hours before someone answered her cries for help. Firefighters eventually rescued her and she spent a month in hospital where she finally lifted the lid on the hate campaign she had suffered. She died later from complications relating to an injury to her foot.

The incident came at the end of a hate campaign aimed at Jenny by up to 21 teenagers who would gather regularly outside her home. Jenny sustained a broken bone in her foot and damaged her leg in the fall. She had to have two operations but died after a blood clot formed in her lung caused by deep vein thrombosis. Supt Bill McMahon, operations manager for Blackpool and the Fylde Police, said, "Tackling anti-social behaviour is something that we are committed to and is a priority for us. In this particular case, an investigation is under way in response to the theft of a manhole." (Source: The Sun, Sep/10)