Getting an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)

The Anti-Social Behaviour Order or ASBO as it was normally referred to entered UK law in 1998 as part of the Crime and Disorder Act. ASBOs were replaced in England and Wales by civil injunctions and criminal behaviour orders in October 2014, though they are still used in Scotland.

The ASBO was usually issued by a magistrates' court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by the Sheriff's Court in Scotland as a means of handing out a punishment to very young offenders without giving them any kind of custodial sentence. Note that the local authority in your area could also apply for an ASBO against an offender and also Registered Social Landlords and Housing Action Trusts. ASBOs could only be issued to an offender who was 10 years of age or over.

Reporting Anti-Social Behaviour

If you or your community are suffering from anti-social behaviour by an individual or group you can report this to a specialised agency. Every community has an anti-social behaviour coordinator, or a Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) representative. You can locate your local teams on the Respect website: www.respect.gov.uk/article.aspx?id=9082. You can locate your local CDRP representative on the Home Office's crime reduction website

If you're concerned about what penalties might apply in an anti social behaviour case, you can get guidance from our free Sentence Guide.

Sentence Guide

Wondering what sentence to expect? Tell us the offence and circumstances and get a plain English guide to the likely sentencing range and what factors affect it.

Try our Sentence Guide free, here on this site →

Respect Campaign

The government introduced the ASBO to give the police powers to tackle anti-social behaviour. As a long-term initiative to improve social responsibility across the UK, the Respect Action Plan was developed in 2006 but ended in late 2007.

The police use various powers to tackle anti-social behaviour in its early stages before it has a chance to develop any further. Early interventions as they are called can mean that the police write to anti-social behaviour offender, or visit their home. Fixed penalty notices can also be used for some offences such as graffiti to deter any further incidents. For young offenders parenting orders and Individual Support orders could be used before an ASBO was issued.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

What can I get an ASBO for?

ASBOs were originally created to tackle anti-social behaviour. This can of course be interpreted in several ways. But generally speaking, in the context of an ASBO, you were committing anti-social behaviour if you:

• Use verbal abuse or otherwise harass passersby.
• Cause criminal damage. This is the destruction of property belong to someone else.
• Cause excessive noise.
• Drink alcohol or smoke under age.
• Kerb crawl.
• Vehicle crime.
• Racial abuse.
• Visiting areas that the police have said are out of bounds to you.
• Continuing with the behaviour that ASBO has been issued against.
• Gathering with a group of people the police have said contravene the ASBO order.

After an ASBO is Issued

An ASBO was an order that was placed on an offender. The ASBO would usually last for a minimum of 2 years. An ASBO did not indicate that a criminal offence had taken place. This meant that the ASBO would not appear on a criminal record. However, if someone broke the terms of the ASBO this was a criminal offence and could result in up to 5 years in prison and a fine. If the police believed someone had broken their ASBO, they would take the case to the magistrates' court, but some cases could be referred to the Crown Court.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Sentence Guide lets you wondering what sentence to expect? Tell us the offence and circumstances and get a plain English guide to the likely sentencing range and what factors affect it. Try it now →