Protests after first NI Asbo

This is the first Asbo to be granted in Northern Ireland

Campaigners for children's rights say they are disappointed that the first Anti-Social Behaviour Order has been served in Northern Ireland.

The Asbo restricts the behaviour and movements of a Coleraine teenager in the area over the next eight weeks.

Koulla Yiasouma from Include Youth said there was no evidence to prove the restricting orders worked.

Paddy Kelly from the Children's Law Centre said research showed that the orders could make the situation worse.

Asbos are aimed at preventing behaviour which causes alarm or distress to other people.

However, Ms Yiasouma said using Asbos meant that children were ending up with a criminal record for actions which were not criminal.

"They are civil orders which means that you do not get a criminal record," Ms Yiasouma explained.

All the independent research in England and Wales suggest that Asbos do not work Paddy Kelly Children's Law Centre

"However, if you break the Asbo, you will get a criminal record. The evidence is that most children do break them.

"Therefore, children are ending up with a criminal record for actions that are not criminal."

Ms Kelly said the decision to serve the order marked a "very sad day" for those people who were suffering as a result of anti-social behaviour.

"All the independent research in England and Wales suggest that Asbos do not work," she said.

"In fact, there is research emerging now to say that they exacerbate the problem."

Exclusion

Ms Kelly said she had been speaking to people in Belfast's Falls and Shankill communities who were amongst those who had suffered most because of anti-social behaviour.

She said they were opposed to Asbos. Ms Kelly said the orders excluded children from the community and drained money from projects which might actually work.

"What the communities are saying is: 'Let's get something that will actually work'," she said.

The youth on whom the first order was placed cannot be named for legal reasons. A full hearing will take place in June.

The legislation for Asbos came into force in the province last August.