'Name and shame' police posters banned

The convicted criminal objected to the police campaign

Police have been banned from featuring a convicted burglar and car thief in a controversial poster campaign to cut crime.

Essex Police planned to put up posters in Brentwood on Monday showing the face of Gary Ellis, 27, who is serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence for theft offences.

But his lawyers won a High Court injunction banning the name and shame posters.

Ellis had argued the posters were a breach of his human rights.

The people who are chosen for the posters are repeat offenders who have caused a nuisance to their community

Essex Police spokesman

Essex Police said the order was temporary and it was considering its next move.

The posters, which would have been the first of a series, were designed to make youngsters think twice before committing crimes and to reassure victims that criminals were being dealt with.

Misguided campaign

If the scheme was successful about eight other forces were interested in using similar posters.

A total of 40 posters had been due to go up at sites across Brentwood.

Support group Action for Prisoners' Families had already condemned the campaign as "utterly misguided".

Director Lucy Gampell said: "This is a serious infringement on the right to privacy for the family of the prisoner.

Risk assessment

"The real victims of this initiative will be the family members of this offender and other families to be named in future campaigns."

Essex police spokesman Peter Laurie said they carried out a risk assessment with probation officers and social services before choosing a subject.

"The people who are chosen for the posters are repeat offenders who have caused a nuisance to their community".