Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

ASBIs in England and Wales: Court of Appeal clarifies 'anti-social behaviour', evidential threshold, applicability to begging, scope of prohibitions and positive requirements, and limits on varying or discharging orders

Published on: 09 April 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Local Government expert

Legal News

Article summary

Swindon Borough Council v Abrook [2024] EWCA Civ 230 What are the practical implications of this case?

Viewed practically, the ruling cautions against resorting to ASBIs unless, in the non‑housing sphere under ABCPA 2014, s 2(1)(a), the impugned behaviour genuinely produces harassment, alarm or distress. The Court stressed, time and again, the requirement for convincing proof that the statutory threshold is actually satisfied. A ‘bald assertion’ about the impact of conduct will not suffice (para [108]). The evidential picture ought to contain a clear account of what was done and its real, or anticipated, consequences. That may come from an individual, or several people, who recount the conduct and explain that they experienced one of the three outcomes, and why. Alternatively, if such direct testimony cannot be obtained (para [103]), the applicant must put forward material which, with adequate descriptive specificity, demonstrates that the behaviour was of a kind likely to induce one or other of those effects in any person, including, hypothetically, someone vulnerable. In short, applications must be evidence‑led, not assumption‑driven, and must show the specified harms. Proof may come from lived accounts or, failing that, well‑supported inferential evidence...

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