Antisocial teens return to Knollmead estate despite order (From Your Local Guardian)

Antisocial teens return to Knollmead estate despite order

2:13pm Tuesday 9th September 2008

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Police are still trying to move gangs of young people away from their haunt at a railway bridge after reports that a baseball bat was waved at a woman driver.

Officers have put up fresh signs on the Knollmead estate telling people about a dispersal zone which allows them to order youths in groups to leave the area.

“Young people think the dispersal order has expired but it hasn’t. It seems like the gang has come back with a vengeance.”

Adam Lotun

Neighbourhood watch co-ordinator Adam Lotun said: “Young people think the dispersal order has expired but it hasn’t. It seems like the gang has come back with a vengeance.”

Peter Day, treasurer of Sunray Community Centre, just over the bridge said: “One of the girls pulled up on Tuesday and there was a car blocking her way. She flashed her lights at him to move out of the way. He did eventually but waved a baseball bat at her.

“It just intimidates the elderly people that come to the club. We need that dispersal order extended.”

The three month dispersal order, issued by Kingston Council after a bicycle was thrown onto the tracks by a 12-year-old boy causing £5,000 to £6,000 worth of damage, expires at the end of September.

A police spokesman said: “The first two months of the dispersal zone have been hugely successful and have provided the local community with respite from ongoing antisocial behaviour.

“Local police have continued to disperse youths gathering in the area whilst leafleting local residents to reassure them of their continued support.

“The signage remains in place and the dispersal order will continue to run until the end of September 2008. The feedback from the local residents is immensely positive and plans are in place to support the area from October 1.”

Dispersal zones have proved controversial since they were brought in by the Labour Government. In Richmond a 15-year-old "model student" challenged the law in the courts because he said it was draconian, infringed his human rights, preventing him from going to band practice, walking the dog and running errands for his mum.

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