A local man has been banned from entering all pubs, clubs and bars in Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham after being given the county’s first Drinking Banning Order.
Officers applied for the one-year civil order to be placed on 30-year-old Gareth Green of Ashbourne Drive, Lancaster, after he committed a catalogue of offences while drunk.
Green is also banned from causing disruption to the reasonable running of drinking establishments and is forbidden to drink, or be drunk, in a public place. If he breaches the conditions of the order, Green is liable to a fine of up to £2,500.
“Green has committed a long list of offences over the past 10 years and every single one of them has been while he was drunk,” commented Sergeant James Martin of Lancaster police. “He has been banned from the city’s pubs under the PubWatch scheme for the past two years, but has breached this on numerous occasions.
“When drunk, he is argumentative and abusive. The order will help protect the public from Green’s anti-social, and sometimes criminal, behaviour when he has been drinking.”
“We applied for this DBO because it offers Green the chance of rehabilitation – the length of the order can be reduced if he goes on an approved course,” Sergeant Martin added. “Unlike an ASBO, breaching a DBO cannot result in a prison sentence, and we believed that this was the best way forward to try to offer Green help and rehabilitation.
“We applied for the DBO with the support of the local PubWatch scheme, whose commitment to reducing alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour has assisted in the successful application for this order.”
The DBO includes all areas covered by Lancaster Magistrates ‘petty sessions’ remit.
Drinking Banning Orders (DBOs) came into force on 31st August 2009. These are civil orders which can be made against an individual aged at least 16 if he has engaged in criminal or disorderly conduct while under the influence of alcohol and the court considers that such an order is necessary to protect persons from further conduct by him of that kind.
Offenders who breach a DBO will be liable to a fine not exceeding level 4 (£2,500). There is no custodial penalty for breach of a DBO.
• More information on drinking banning orders can be found at http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/dbo001.htm
L
It's about time people like this were removed from the streets, pubs and clubs of our otherwise well behaved county.