Illegal to be young in Tiverton?

It seems that to be young in Tiverton today is a crime. According to headline after headline in the local papers we have 'Yob behaviour' that needs to be 'blitzed'. The Police, it seems, are only to keen to oblige. Only last week I witnessed a teenage girl being forcibly removed from outside Tesco, where she was, quite rightly, refusing to get into the back of a Police car to be taken home. In the end three police cars and a van were on the scene - to remove one teenage girl, who had not been arrested, nor charged with any crime, and Tesco had not called the Police.

It seems the Police have taken to imposing their own curfew on the area outside Tesco, and are disbursing groups of more than three teenagers and removing them home, for doing nothing more than 'hanging out' outside the supermarket. This is an infringement of these young people's civil liberties and a stop needs to put to it right now. As socialists we need to inform young people of their rights.

First of all, Tesco is private land, and the only argument for removal of anyone can be under the law of Trespass if Tesco refuse the right of entry to an individual. This can only be enforced through the civil courts in an action taken by Tesco. The Police have no right to attend Tesco's car park unless they are summoned to do so by Tesco, and they have no right to remove anyone unless they are under arrest.

Secondly, the Police have no right to forcibly disperse or remove young people who are not breaking the law from any public space anyway. Under a test case brought by Liberty and 'W' (An anonymous 15 year old) in 1995 the High Court ruled as follows:

"we are entirely satisfied that the power to remove in section 30(6) (Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003) is permissive, not coercive. It therefore confers no power on the Police or a CSO to interfere with the movements of someone under the age of 16 who is conducting himself (Or herself) lawfully within a dispersal area between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am.…Section 30(6) merely confers on the police a very welcome express power to use police resources to take such a person home if he (or she) is willing to be taken home."

The young woman in question had every right to refuse being taken home against her will by the Police, as does every other young person the Police attempt to coerce into their vehicles illegally. It is not (yet, at least, under this draconian Government) illegal to be young.

The latest development is that the Police are breathalysing young people in Tiverton! Unless the young person can reasonably be suspected of drink driving, once again the Police have no right to do this! What do they find when they do? According to the local paper, that one young woman was 'nearly one and a half times the legal limit' - what limit!? The drink driving limit! Was she driving? No, she was going to an under 18's night at a local club, and she had drunk the equivalent of 'nearly' two pints. She may have drunk this quite legally at home! It is not a crime!

Frankly, with this kind if insane policing going on, I am not at all surprised that we are seeing an increase in vandalism in the town's suburbs, if you force young people away from the centre of town against their will and marginalise them like this, you can expect them to have nothing but contempt for older people and private property. We can expect a lot more of the same unless facilities and activities are provided to keep young people occupied, and they are treated with respect as valuable members of society.

We need a campaign to inform young people of their rights and to fight back against these policing methods.