Youths responsible for anti-social behaviour in Halton Moor receive injunctions

Anti-social behaviour injunctions have been served this week on a group of youths responsible for a range of anti-social behaviour which has blighted an east Leeds community.

This follows steps taken by Leeds City Council’s Safer Leeds anti-social behaviour team (LASBT) and West Yorkshire Police at Leeds Youth Court this month, which resulted in 14 youths now being subject to a variety of restrictions in a designated area of the Halton Moor estate. The youths who are all under 18, will face potential further action including a six-month supervision order or three months detention if they are found to have breached any of the conditions of the injunction.

The terms of the injunction include restrictions on behaving in a manner that causes nuisance or annoyance to any local residents, using threatening and abusive language and entering, attempting to enter or remaining within, or loitering outside five stores in the area. Each of the youths will also be subject to a strict curfew at their home property between the hours of 8pm and 6am daily, and are also restricted from entering Kendal Drive.

The move to secure the injunction follows a catalogue of incidents recorded by LASBT and West Yorkshire Police in the Halton Moor area by the youths. These include assaults, carrying weapons such as knives, criminal damage of property and vehicles, fireworks being put through letter boxes and threatening behaviour and targeted abuse of residents and vulnerable people. It also follows an incident in Ullswater Crescent on September 19 where a police crime scene investigation van was set on fire and bricks were thrown at other police vehicles by youths in the area.

LASBT work closely with a range of partners including the police to tackle a variety of anti-social behaviour issues. Anyone suffering from anti-social behaviour can contact LASBT in the following ways: To report in the daytime call 0113 222 4402 or out of hours on 0113 3760337 (between 6pm and 3.30am). For non-emergencies, please ring West Yorkshire Police on: 101.

Paul Money, Leeds City Council’s chief officer for Safer Leeds, said:

“We will not tolerate any form of anti-social behaviour, and residents can be assured that we will always use every tool at our disposal to put a stop to it as soon as possible.

“The behaviour of these 14 youths in the Halton Moor estate was completely unacceptable, which is why we took the decision to secure these anti-social behaviour injunctions through the courts. The terms of the injunction will put a number of restrictions on these youths in terms of their behaviour and also restrict them from entering or loitering around five local shops where they have previously caused problems. I also welcome a curfew from 8pm-6am, which will restrict these individuals every day to their homes during these times.

“I hope the action that we have taken today sends out a very strong message to others involved in this type of anti-social behaviour that it will not be ignored and they will face tough consequences. I would urge anyone who is experiencing any form of anti-social behaviour to not suffer in silence, but to please contact our dedicated LASBT team as soon as possible.”

Superintendent Jackie Marsh, of the Safer Leeds partnership, said:

“The quality of life of local residents in Halton Moor has been really badly affected by repeated incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour linked to this group.

“By working in partnership we have been able to take firm action to address the problems and we hope these injunctions, alongside other work, will have a lasting impact on the situation.

“These injunctions should give real support to the ongoing partnership work we are carrying out in the area, and we hope that residents will see some significant improvements.

“We are determined to keep doing everything we can to tackle the issues, and this latest action should serve as a very clear warning to those who selfishly persist in making other peoples’ lives a misery.

“Both police and council staff will be continuing to monitor the situation in this area over the coming weeks and months and will take robust action to make sure these issues are not just displaced elsewhere.”