http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=2348972005
Dani Caravelli
"Dispersal orders and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, aka ASBOs, are the cornerstone of the Labour government's policy for dealing with the so-called 'yob culture'. In England, ASBOs have been handed out in their thousands in the past couple of years, despite the fact there is absolutely no evidence that they do anything to reduce anti-social behaviour. Indeed, since statistics show that around half of them are handed out to under-18s (sometimes for behaviour such as playing football or being sarcastic), more than 40% of them are breached, and around half of those who breach them end up in jail, it seems they merely serve to clog up our already crowded penal system. In Scotland, four councils, including Dumfries and Galloway, had 100% breach rates in 2004/5. "
