YOB RULE

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Teacher Bob Mackenzie was forced to quit for giving an unruly foul-mouthed pupil a clip around the ear. The PE master retaliated when the 15-year-old boy swore at him in a corridor during break-time. The incident happened during a lunch break. One source at the school said, "The boy was no angel and he had been goading people week in week out. On this occasion he raised his arms and pushed Mr Mackenzie in the chest and then called him 'a Scottish c***'. Is it any wonder the teacher gave it him back?" The boy was excluded from school for five days but was allowed back into lessons. His parents are understood to have complained to police about the incident but then withdrawn their allegations. A Cheshire County Council spokesman said, "Mr Mackenzie has tendered his resignation and that has been accepted. As far as the school in concerned that is the end of the matter." (Source: Daily Mail, Nov/07)

Parents who fail to control children aged under 10 face fines up to £5,000 under the Government's latest crackdown. Yobs who are under the age of criminal responsibility can now be targeted with Parental Compensation Orders punishing their parents for their hell-raising, with the threat of jail for those who fail to pay up.

The orders will demand reparation payments for theft, loss or criminal damage to property, but they cannot be used to tackle young thugs who cause distress or intimidation. Ministers are hoping the new measures will force parents to take responsibility for their children's behaviour.

Local authorities will be encouraged to apply for Parental Compensation Orders, with parents being summonsed to a magistrates court, where their means and other factors will be taken into account before setting the level of compensation. The civil orders can be made against one or more parent, carer or guardian, where other attempts to persuade them to take responsibility have failed.

Compensation can only be demanded for financial loss, such as criminal damage to a neighbour's house or car, and not for pain, suffering or inconvenience caused. And guidance states that they should only be approved where the child's actions would amount to a crime if they were 10 or over, or serious anti-social behaviour. The "victim" can include a school where a child causes damage.

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said, "Children under 10 can cause havoc, but they are too young to be prosecuted and their victims can feel powerless. Parents play a key role in children becoming responsible citizens. Most parents take this seriously, but a minority do not make the effort, and even just sit back while their children run wild. We will not tolerate this." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Oct/06)

Police are to be banned from using the word 'yob' in case they offend delinquents and Scotland Yard chiefs have told staff to find a more polite way of referring to troublemakers. The move has the backing of Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. It applies to all reports submitted by officers to the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the running of the capital's force.

The ban was imposed after the word 'yobs' cropped up in a report presented to members of the authority. The document on Safer Neighbourhoods by Chief Superintendent Steve Bloomfield stated that Scotland Yard was "proactively tackling gangs and yobs across London".

Objecting to the phrase, Cindy Butts, the police authority's deputy chairman, told Sir Ian that the term was 'alienating'. She added, "I have a problem with the language of 'yobs'. It sort of sets up and defines too much a 'self' and 'other'." Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin agreed, saying, "I'm sorry about that. We won't use that again."

Senior Met sources called the decision 'pathetic', pointing out that Sir Ian used the term himself when he broadcast on BBC1. Giving the BBC's annual Dimbleby lecture Sir Ian said, "Society is demanding answers and actions to deal with feral children, hoodies and yobs." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Oct/06)

Mother-of-two Donna Appleyard faces a possible prison sentence after swearing at yobs who have made her life a living hell. For more than two years a large group of teenage thugs have hounded Donna who has had to endure relentless abuse, threats and vandalism. On a daily basis Donna and her two children have had to put up with a 15 strong group of kids aged between 12 and 17 hanging around outside their home. Donna and her neighbours have had to endure paint been thrown on their walls, plants ruined from their gardens, and late night noise from the gang who stay up drinking on the streets.

On a daily basis Donna claims she has to put up with kids jumping over fences, trampling gardens, shouting, swearing, kicking footballs against windows and constant intimidating behaviour. But she finally "snapped" over the constant intimidation and told one of her bullies to "please, just fuck off." The youths ignored her but two weeks later officers called at her home. She was told a 13-year-old girl had made a complaint against her. She she was arrested by police who charged her under public order offences and she now faces a possible prison sentence if she refuses to pay a fine.

So why didn't the police react when she made complaints against the yobs? Donna claims she made countless complaints to police about the gang outside her home but nothing has ever been done about them. She said, "They told me I had scared the children. Well, what do they think has been happening to us for the past year or so? I had called police and spoken to our beat officer about six times. Not once had they been round to see me."

Sgt Neil Haley of the Five Towns Neighbourhood Policing Team defended the fine. He said, "We appreciate that anti-social behaviour can be frustrating but people should not take the law into their own hands." Have the police arrested the yobs who were swearing at Ms Appleyard? No? Why not? Interesting comment by Sgt Neil Haley that one should not take the law into your own hands. Cases like this confirm that's EXACTLY what we should do. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Sep/06)

One of the most crime-ridden streets in Britain is Raymede Drive on the Bestwood estate in Nottingham. Over the past 11 months, yobs have been blamed for 538 crimes, including 56 involving cars, 107 house burglaries, 106 violent attacks and 269 other offences ranging from drug dealing to affray. The road is dubbed "Little Beirut" because of its violence, burned out vehicles and smashed buildings.

Teenage gangsters who call themselves 'The Untouchables' because they believe they are above the law, boast of buying guns for just £150. Others rent them for £50, complete with ammunition, to carry out a "job". Rubbish is strewn across unkempt front gardens and smashed windows are boarded up with plywood. Two days before Bonfire Night, a lit firework was shoved through the letterbox of one home.

Three men were inside and chased the arsonists but they were ambushed and beaten up by a seven-strong gang of yobs. Almost every night yobs steal cars and ride them up and down the road before torching them, sometimes with petrol bombs. Chief Inspector Mick Windmill-Jones said, "Before we had a real problem but now we are at least getting anonymous tip-offs and people are talking to us. There is still a lot of anti-social behaviour, arson and problems with cannabis, but we are making great strides." (Source: Sunday People, Dec/06)

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