Act Now To Beat Thugs, Says Police Chief

A senior police officer yesterday issued a devastating critique of the way towns were being blighted by violent, drunken youths who had made people afraid to walk the streets.
  Garry Newlove was killed after confronting a gang of youths outside his home in Cheshire last week

Speaking after the death of a father allegedly at the hands of teenage yobs, Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Cheshire, blamed parents for abdicating responsibility for their children and shops that sold cheap alcohol.

A “hard core” of unemployed young men was at the centre of the problem, he said.

He called for more powers to ban street drinking, an increase in the price of alcohol and new powers for police to order youths home when they were causing a nuisance in public.

Mr Fahy’s comments were welcomed by opposition politicians and health campaigners who said the Government must act now to halt the rise in drunken street violence.

Garry Newlove, 47, was killed after confronting a gang outside his home last Friday night.

Yesterday three teenage boys appeared in court accused of murder.

He was allegedly attacked outside his house in Warrington, Cheshire, after confronting youths who were vandalising a mechanical digger.

Members of Mr Newlove’s family were allowed to sit in Runcorn Youth Court – which is normally closed to the public – to see the youths, two aged 15 and a third aged 16, remanded into local authority secure accommodation. The youths cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Newlove’s youngest daughter, Amy, 12, wrote a letter to her father as he lay dying in hospital from head injuries in which she called him the “best dad anyone can wish for”.

Devon and Cornwall Police Federation yesterday released figures showing that violent crime in pubs and nightclubs had increased dramatically since the introduction of 24-hour drinking in November 2005.

Last month a Home Office report revealed a 22 per cent rise in alcohol-fuelled crime between 3am and 6am in the year after 24-hour licensing was introduced.

Separate figures showed there were 1,087,000 violent incidents in 2006-07 in which the victim believed their attacker had been drinking.

Medical research revealed a three-fold increase in the number of people admitted to A&E units with alcohol-related problems since drinking laws were changed, and the number of drunk teenagers taken to hospital had risen by more than a third in the past decade.

The Prime Minister has ordered a review of 24-hour drinking laws.

Yesterday Mr Fahy called for far-reaching changes to help the police in their “constant battle” against alcohol-induced violence.

He said: “Most of the bad behaviour is fuelled by alcohol – much of it supplied by adults – including some parents.

“I know that a hard core of parents turn a blind eye to the fact that their youngsters are out there, drinking under age and congregating in places where they cause nuisance to others.

“Alcohol is too cheap and too readily available and is too strong. Young people cannot handle it.”

He added: “We cannot have a society where adults feel scared to go out and challenge youngsters up to no good.”

In an interview with Channel 4 News last night, Mr Fahy called for the legal drinking age to be raised to 21. “There is a lot better control of licensed premises now,” he said.

“We need to extend that control to supermarkets, petrol stations and late-night shops because that’s really where the alcohol is coming from.”

Shadow home secretary David Davis said: “Under Labour, drug offences have gone up by nearly 50 per cent, 24-hour drinking has been unleashed on towns and communities and family breakdown has increased. This is why violent crime has doubled under Labour.”

The Home Office said it agreed with the substance of Mr Fahy’s comments.

A spokesman said: “From next week police will have new on-the-spot powers to disperse anyone aged 16 years or over involved in alcohol fuelled disorder.

“In addition, local authorities can designate areas, including town centres, where it is an offence to continue to drink alcohol after being told not to do so by the police.”