Page 398 - 6. 2016 Diary 1st half New 26-05-21 No Table

The magistrates granted the council’s application for an order on conviction with the
following prohibitions:
• not to play loud music that could be heard outside her dwelling; and
• not to verbally (or otherwise) abuse: employees or agents of the council; neighbours; or
visitors to the neighbourhood.
Outcome
The order on conviction had several advantages over the noise abatement notice as an
enforcement tool. It was easier to enforce as the evidence of experts such as environmental
health officers to prove statutory noise nuisance would not be required. The order on
conviction reduced the test of compliance to a simple (nonexpert) factual observation of
audibility’ beyond the confines of the defendant’s dwelling - a simple matter of observable
fact that, say, a police officer could witness.
398
162,
Simon Cordell’s Skeleton Argument (2) Pdf
Applying to the courts
The second prohibition to deal with the tenant’s threatening and abusive behaviour was
beyond the scope of the original abatement notice. It was granted as the council was able to
produce evidence of the tenant’s behaviour to justify the restriction gained from early
consultations with Suffolk Police and the housing association, which proved it was a
reasonable restriction to impose on the defendant.
The resulting order on conviction did not cost any more than the noise prosecution would
have cost on its own. Obtaining these restrictions in this way avoided the need for a stand-
alone ASBO application in respect of the other aspects of the defendant’s behaviour, saving
money, avoiding several weeks' delay, and achieving faster and more readily enforceable
relief for the wider community.
Valuable lessons were learnt by environmental health and other enforcement authorities in
this action.
In particular, early consultation with relevant agencies in the process of investigation and
enforcement are important to an ASBO’s success. And if the applicant for an order offers the
other relevant agencies the opportunity to assist in drafting appropriate prohibitions, a
successful outcome, which offers relief for the community ‘on all fronts’, is more likely.
Contact
Andrew Reynolds, Principal Environmental Health Officer, Waveney District Council
Telephone: 01502 562111
- professional witness statements.
- hearsay evidence.
- CCTV footage.
- letters of complaint (including anonymous complaints) to the police, the council or a
landlord.
- articles in the local press.
- the number and nature of the charges against the defendant.
- the defendant’s character and conduct as revealed by the evidence.
- the content of the victim’s personal statement.
- other offences that have been taken into consideration (TICs);
- details of final warnings or previous convictions.
- the risk assessment in any pre-sentence report.
- records of any non-compliance with other interventions, e.g. ABCs or warnings; and
- the community impact statement (CIS).