RISHI: I WILL LET VICTIMS SAY HOW TO PUNISH YOBS

PM’s blitz on antisocial behaviour will see shamed thugs wearing jumpsuits as they clean up streets they blighted

RISHI SUNAK today vows that those whose lives are blighted by antisocial behaviour will have a say in how the culprits are punished.

Heralding a major Government blitz on crime and vandalism, the Prime Minister pledges to put ‘community justice’ at the heart of the clampdown.

It will mean giving victims and local residents a say in what punishments are meted out – such as placing vandals in shaming jumpsuits while they publicly repair the damage they caused.

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday ahead of the launch of the new package, the Prime Minister said: ‘The community fightback starts now.’

On-the-spot fines for those caught fly-tipping will more than double from £400 to £1,000, while those littering or spraying graffiti face being hit with £500 fines – up from the current £150 maximum.

Ministers are also considering plans for suspects to be tested for drugs as part of a ‘hotspot’ policing

strategy, which comes in response to shocking evidence that half of all crime is carried out in just five per cent of areas. Community patrols will also be given a funding boost to help tackle the menace.

There are also likely to be new laws against nuisance begging and a ban on the sale and possession of nitrous oxide – laughing gas – to combat the scourge of empty metal canisters littering the streets where youths congregate, as well as enhanced powers for landlords to evict problem tenants.

Mr Sunak said: ‘Dropping litter, fly-tipping and graffitiing show an unacceptable lack of respect for everyone else in a community. While many up and down the country work so hard to make communal areas such as high streets, town squares and parks look beautiful, a small minority tarnish them through their selfish, thoughtless actions. It’s not right and it’s not fair.

‘Women and girls should feel safe walking home at night. Parents should feel able to let their children play without fear. Everyone should be able to feel pride in the area they call home. So we will give police the powers they need to tackle this scourge and Mail on Sunday readers will get a chance to have their say over what punishments they think fit the crimes.

‘To those who inflict this blight, let me warn you: the community fightback starts now.’

No 10 hopes the changes, which come into effect later this year, will add to the political momentum gathering behind Mr Sunak since he struck a postBrexit deal with the EU over Northern Ireland and legislated to tackle the small-boats crisis.

The policies have coincided with a narrowing in Labour’s opinion poll lead, while private research by the Tories indicates their reputation on law and order remains one of their few potential trump cards to win over swing voters ahead of next year’s expected Election.

But Labour is likely to accuse the Tories of stealing one of its flagship ideas. The party pledged last year to create ‘community and victim payback boards’ to strengthen local involvement in sentencing, reduce antisocial behaviour and stop more serious offending.

The new Government measures, which will include extra funding for police and crime commissioners, is intended to ensure that crimes are more swiftly and visibly punished, with the aim that offenders will start work within 48 hours of receiving an order. The plan will be tested in ten areas before being rolled out across England and Wales next year.

The most eye-catching element is the proposal for offenders to wear jumpsuits or high-vis jackets while cleaning up graffiti, picking up litter or washing police cars.

The ‘Community Payback’ scheme, under which more serious offenders are sentenced to do unpaid work such as cleaning up public places, will also be extended.

No 10 is also planning to change the rules so money from fines will be reinvested into clean-up and enforcement activity to offset some of the £732million councils spent on litter and fly-tipping last year.

In a further move to restore civic pride – part of Michael Gove’s Levelling Up agenda – the most crime-hit areas will be given a £5million boost to renovate local parks, and tens of millions more will be pledged to sport and community clubs to try to divert young people from antisocial behaviour.

Ministers are also considering new powers to move on beggars asking for money near cashpoints or at transport hubs, with persistent offenders required to sign up to a support scheme including accommodation and mental health help.

A Government spokesman said: ‘We’re determined to put an end to the corrosive effects of antisocial behaviour, which in too many places has worn down people’s sense of safety, security and pride of place.

‘That’s why – as well as tackling these unacceptable crimes – we’re also putting funding into revitalising neighbourhoods so people can feel proud of where they call home.’

THERE is a great hunger in this country for justice. Far too many of us have to watch as vandals, thugs and street gangs destroy the tranquillity and security of our neighbourhoods. If they are prosecuted, which is not often, the culprits frequently appear to get away with what they have done, facing minor penalties many months after their crimes.

So Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s suggestion that citizens will get a say in how transgressors are punished will be warmly welcomed by many.

One American judge, Michael

Cicconetti of Painesville, Ohio, claimed a major reduction in reoffending after making his sentences fit the crime – for example a gun offender made to spend time in a morgue, a man who stole from the Salvation Army made to spend 24 hours living as a homeless person. It is certainly not impossible to make justice more fitting and more memorable.

And, as Mr Sunak says: ‘Dropping litter, fly-tipping and graffiti show an unacceptable lack of respect for everyone else in a community.’

He is also right to promise that ‘women and girls should feel safe walking home at night. Parents should feel able to let their children play without fear. Everyone should be able to feel pride in the area they call home.’

What he calls ‘immediate justice’, requiring offenders to clear up the mess they have made while wearing highvisibility jumpsuits, will undoubtedly be popular.

But he will need to fill in the details as soon as possible. There have been many promises made that the criminal justice system in this country will be fixed, and will be more responsive to the needs and demands of the people.

But in recent years the simple task of providing a visible and effective police force has proved too much for the authorities in many parts of the country. Please don’t raise our hopes unless you mean it this time.