Council acts to protect residents from anti-social behaviour

The order was made against Colin Wood, 52, of Kingfisher Close, Bradwell, Great Yarmouth, following multiple complaints about his anti-social behaviour in Bradwell and after committing a series of public order offences.

An injunction was obtained by the council's Tenancy Services Team in November 2020, working in partnership with Norfolk Police. It included an overarching condition banning him from engaging in or threatening harassing, threatening or abusive behaviour in or around Kingfisher Close.  

Wood was arrested on Kingfisher Close in August last year in direct breach of his court order, and in December he was found guilty of contempt of court at Norwich magistrates court for disobeying the injunction order, receiving a six month prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

Alongside the breach of the injunction Wood was found guilty of common assault of an emergency worker, assault by beating, use threatening, abusive and insulting words, of behaviour to cause harassment, alarm, distress and criminal damage receiving a 26 week prison sentence. 

In a statement Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: "To support the well-being of our communities, the council takes a strong stance against anti-social behaviour, where possible through informal actions and by offering support to help people improve their behaviour. 

"However, where this isn't possible, we will work in partnership with the police and the courts in order to protect residents whose lives are often seriously affected by the behaviour of others. 

"In this case, where multiple informal interventions had failed, there was clear evidence of anti-social behaviour reported by residents, which supported our robust action. We would like to thank the community for their support, and we would encourage anyone with concerns about anti-social behaviour to get in touch."

Norfolk Police's Sergeant Christopher Giddens said: "As this example shows, working in partnership with other authorities can be the best way to tackle anti-social behaviour, and offences of this nature. 

"The police are often the first point of call, but actually it's frequently a complex, joint effort with teams such as those within local councils, to resolve ongoing disruption associated with specific neighbourhoods or people within them."