Crackdown on yobbish behaviour is welcomed

By Richard Matthews Tough new Government measures to tackle anti-social behaviour have been generally welcomed by the industry. Home Secretary David Blunkett has signalled a crackdown on yobbish behaviour with a range of measures contained in a White Paper entitled Respect and Responsibility: Taking a Stand Against Anti-Social Behaviour. Both the BBPA and the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers welcomed the fact that there was no mention of pubs being made to pay for extra policing in the White Paper. The Home Office proposals, which include extending a pilot on-the-spot fines scheme and increasing the use of anti-social behaviour orders (ABSOs), could become law as early as October. The West Midlands Police has been piloting the fines scheme throughout its area since last August and in that time has imposed almost 1,500 fines of either £40 to £80. The majority of these were for causing harassment, alarm or distress (using threatening and abusive behaviour) with over a third issued to people who had been drunk and disorderly. The new measures would reduce the age for fixed fines to be handed out from 18 to 16. Among the new measures would be powers to close down pubs and clubs which create a problem and widening powers to close down establishments creating a noise nuisance. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) spokesman Mark Hastings said: "No community wants to have troublemakers running riot but we should bear in mind it is only a minority that cause problems. "In many cases matters can be dealt with by the police and the authorities using the powers that they already have to deal with problems." ALMR chief executive Nick Bish said: "As an industry we will obviously be watching the development of this White Paper very carefully to see if there is anything between the lines relating to pubs that may have been covered in previous acts. "We are very conscious of the issues of corporate social responsibility and addressing these matters but we did not want any more crime and disorder measures which we believe have already been addressed." Bars involved in 10% of criminal injuries claims More than £4m in criminal injuries compensation is awarded every year to victims of bar brawls, with glasses involved in more serious claims than bottles, new research has shown. Researchers trawled over 152,000 claims submitted to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). They found 15,217 relating to assaults in licensed premises, of which 3,706 involved injuries which were specifically caused by glasses and bottles. Over the two years in question, the CICA paid out £8,153,804 in compensation to victims of bar brawls. Awards made to victims of glassware injury accounted for 28% of this sum ­ a total of £2,302,630. Bottles were found to be four times more likely to be used to club victims on the head, but glass injuries were twice as likely to require stitches. "There are persuasive arguments for requiring the alcohol industry to contribute to the costs of criminal injury compensation for assaults within licensed premises," the report's authors claim. Replacing glass with plastic would help reduce injuries, they added. Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers Nick Bish said: "It's disproportionate to believe that switching from glass to plastic can solve this problem. People in a mood to attack each other will find another weapon.