While some journalists have been struggling to publicise details of individuals given Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, others are reporting on the effectiveness of publishing Asbo recipients’ pictures online.
In a report on the case of a persistent drunk who was jailed after violating the terms of his Asbo, the Bolton News notes that the man was nabbed after a CCTV operator recognised him from a website that publicises the pictures of people who are subject to Asbos.
The “Current Asbos” site was launched this month by the BurySafe partnership, a body which brings together council and police organisations in the region.
Bury Council’s Michelle Wiseman told the paper: “We are delighted that the community is behind us in publicising these people who have been given ASBOs for terrorising communities and making victims’ lives a misery.”
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In Brighton, by contrast, The Argus is fighting a reporting restriction that prevents it from publishing the picture of a teenage Asbo recipient.
Meanwhile, a Guardian journalist recently lost a Freedom of Information Act case in the Information Tribunal after seeking a list of past Asbo recipients in the London Borough of Camden.
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