We recently received this email from a mother in Cornwall, who was issued with an ASB warning and two Community Protection Warnings banning her from reporting stalking incidents to the council or police. This case shows how authorities are using these powers to silence people, including people trying to report crimes. Because ASB powers are so open-ended, they can be used to suit the convenience of local authorities and the police where they perceive a member of the public to be ‘difficult’. This shows that the powers are not serving victims of offences – or those trying to report offences – but…

We have been touch with Nigel and Sheila Jacklin since 2018, when they were issued with an order banning them from going to their local beach. The police have pursued cases against the Jacklins for the past 8 years, including two prosecutions alleging that Sheila’s gestures of Hindu prayer were ‘rude’ hand gestures. This must be one of the worst cases of police corruption that we have come across, in terms of the repeated and petty targeting of people over such a long time for their everyday actions. Here is an account by Nigel of the events of the past 8 years….…

I have received an email from a man whose deaf son was issued with an order banning him from playing ‘loud amplified music’ from his property. The father says: My son lives in a house which we bought for him in 2019, it is a nice neighbourhood mainly made up of older people. My son is 30 years old and is deaf by birth; he wears a cochlear implant, and also has severe anxiety and diagnosed ADHD, both of which he takes medication for. He has received a warning letter and now a Community Protection Notice relating to ‘loud amplified music’, which he…

This is a testimony from a lady who was subjected to a one-year battle with her council because of posters she had put up on her front door. When the council approved of her posters, it gave her awards; when it disapproved, it issued legal orders against her and prepared to engage in three-day-long trials in order to defend its position. This shows how controversial political opinions can be classified as ‘anti-social behaviour’ and subject to criminal sanction. Facing a massive legal bill, the lady removed a particular poster, but remains unbowed and continues to use her door to promote the issues…

In this case, a woman was issued with a legal order banning her from having a bus she was restoring on her drive, because a neighbour claims she could see the top of the bus while she was watching TV. The legal order absorbed the lady’s time and money and prevented her from restoring the bus. This shows how Community Protection Notices (CPNs) can give tremendous authority to complainants, no matter how irrational their complaints. The CPN ruined not only a lady’s business plan – at substantial financial cost – but also ruined her relations with her neighbours, after the council petitioned…

We have been in touch with a road safety campaigner banned from filming in Ealing (see his case here). We accompanied the man – who tweets from the account @CitizenUddin – to Uxbridge Magistrates Court to appeal his Community Protection Notice. When we arrived in the courtroom the police withdrew the CPN, rather than contest the appeal. This is very telling. @CitizenUddin had asked the police to withdraw the CPN several times before, but they stood by it. But as soon as there was a prospect of a legal appeal, and the scrutiny of a court – even though @CitizenUddin was representing…

A lady in Merseyside has been banned from taking in injured birds, which has been her habit for years. The case shows how council officers issuing CPNs assume a large degree of control over recipients’ lives, with constant demands to inspect their property and issuing minute instructions about how they live (including whether their windows are left open or closed). This goes way beyond any reasonable remit of dealing with serious nuisance or anti-social behaviour; ‘asb’ is defined according to the predelictions and personal gripes of the officer concerned. This case also shows how council officers often stir up bad feeling against…

A road safety campaigner was issued with a Community Protection Notice banning him from filming in Ealing, as well as from posting pictures of anyone without their written consent. This case shows how those in positions of authority – in this case, a councillor – are able to use the CPN system in order to protect their own reputations or seek their own ends. It also shows how, once someone has received a CPN, they become ‘fair game’ for harassment by others, and unable to receive a normal level of public protection. His CPN appeal will be held in February. This is…

Here is a testimony from a woman with significant mental health problems who received a CPW on the basis of false allegations. This shows how councils and police are taking minimal care in their use of CPNs against people with mental health problems, in spite of advice in the guidance that CPNs should not be used against vulnerable groups. It also shows how the CPN can function as a sort of ‘black mark’, encouraging others to target that person with harassment and further allegations. Such CPW interventions worsen neighbour relations, as well as substantially worsen the situation of the CPN recipient. Read…

We previously published the account of a pensioner who was imprisoned for 15 weeks feeding the birds. Now the council – which has issued him with a Criminal Behaviour Order – is threatening him with prison again, this time for up to 5 years. Here is an updated statement from the pensioner. Since March, I’ve had a Criminal Behaviour Order, with a map of my town outlining where not to feed the birds. However, the beach seems to not be outlined, therefore I’ve been feeding the birds on the beach for half an hour a day. I feed them sardines mixed with…

I was given a Community Protection Warning by Nottinghamshire Police for allegedly allowing garden materials onto a neighbouring drive. I was told that this concerned materials such as a bark chippings (which I use as mulch), and leaves. I am very have upset by their action as I had made every reasonable attempt to contain the material, building walls and barriers. The same neighbour reported me to the police on another occasion for my Christmas decorations. In response to directives in the CPW I have ripped up part of my garden, and erected netting to catch the leaves and bark that Nottingham…

I am a hotel owner in Blackpool, and I was issued a Community Protection Warning Letter (CPW) in June 2023 from Blackpool Council, served at my home by a police officer and PSCO from Lancashire Constabulary on the council’s behalf. The CPW was based on a single argument with a neighbour, and fictitious allegations made by the same neighbour that I allowed my dog Max to ‘regularly foul on the public footpath and never pick it up’. I was more upset about the dog poo allegation than the argument. I pick up plastic from the beach on a daily basis, and I…