Teens handed injunction to reduce youth crime in Taunton

Three teenagers have been handed civil injunctions in a bid to reduce youth crime in Taunton.

Two 14-year-old and one 15-year-old boy appeared in Taunton Magistrates Court yesterday (Tuesday 6 September) where they were issued with civil injunctions which will remain in place for the next year.

The young boys, who have not been named for legal reasons, must abide by the following conditions:

1. They are not allowed to be in the company of eight named young people in a public place, unless at school, college or in programmes arranged by approved professionals.
2. They are not permitted to be in a group of more than five other people, under 18 years old, without a parent or guardian over the age of 18 present.
3. They cannot ride, operate or be a passenger on any form of electric scooter or bike in a public place.
4. No shouting, swearing, or spitting at other people
5. No intimidating or threatening to hurt other people

If the young people breach these conditions, they can be arrested.

Two of the teenagers have also been issued with a curfew which will be monitored by a tag for the next six weeks.

The civil injunctions were applied for by officers after consultation with our partner agencies such as the Youth Offending Team and Child Social Care.

This was sought following several anti-social behaviour incidents taking place in Taunton which included theft of electric scooters, violence, and public order offences. Investigations continue into a number of these incidents and these injunctions do not preclude prosecution or any other criminal justice outcomes.

Sgt Kat Forrest, from the Taunton Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This has been a challenging piece of work and has seen our officers work alongside our partner agencies to place restrictions on these three young people.

“These restrictions will help to prevent them from continuing to behave in a way which impacts the community we live in.

“I would like to thank the public for their patience and for their continued support by reporting matters to us. We are taking this behaviour very seriously and dealing with it in the appropriate manner in view of the perpetrators’ ages.

“We would like to reassure the community that action will continue to be taken to hold those involved to account.”