The District Council secures two Closure Orders to put a stop to anti-social behaviour and alleged drug-use

Sally Knowles and Ian McPhail, both Boughton residents, were each issued with Closure Orders following complaints from residents and Police. The catalogue of reported incidents at both properties includes alleged substance abuse inside and around the premises, drugs allegedly being supplied at and from the premises, and high number of visitors coming and going from the properties. Criminal activity was also reported close by to Ms. Knowles’ property, and both Mr. McPhail and visitors to his property were reported to be behaving violently.

The properties are both in the Boughton area and while the extensive catalogue of incidents for each property was enough to cause distress to those living nearby, the close proximity of the properties meant the incidents were causing a significant, negative impact on the wider local community. This could not be allowed to continue and therefore legal action had to be taken, with officers from the District Council’s Public Protection team and Housing team, supported by the Police Neighbourhoods team, working to secure the Closure Orders to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the residents affected. 

A Closure Order is designed to provide immediate relief for the community from anti-social behaviour (ASB) being committed from a property, and it is an offence to enter or remain on premises in contravention of a Closure Notice or Closure Order without reasonable excuse, punishable by a fine or imprisonment or both. Mr. McPhail was issued a Part Closure Order and will remain at the property but only named visitors will be granted access. Ms. Knowles was issued with a Full Closure Order, meaning she is no longer granted access to the property. She was also recently made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order for repeated shop theft in Ollerton.

Councillor Paul Taylor, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Community Relations at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We will not stand by and allow selfish individuals to flout the law and cause harm or distress to the local community. I hope these Closure Orders reassure our residents that we will do all we can to ensure a safer Newark and Sherwood, and I also hope it sends a message to offenders, we will not stand for this unacceptable behaviour.

“We are committed to clamping down on ASB and criminal behaviour and we will continue our successful partnership working with the Police to ensure our reach is wide and our resources are strengthened.”

Councillor Lee Brazier, Portfolio Holder for Housing at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Our residents deserve a district in which they feel safe and secure, and no-one should be subjected to the distressing behaviour exhibited by both of these offenders.

“We are working to ensure behaviour like this does not go unpunished but I urge residents to help us in this and act as our eyes and ears by always reporting any incidents so our teams can work to investigate and identify offenders and ensure they face the consequences of their actions.”

Newark and Sherwood District Council is committed to tackling criminal and anti-social behaviour such as this and have recently expanded the Anti-Social Behaviour Team, allowing the opportunity for ASB Officers and Community Protection Officers to move to area-based working, with dedicated officers covering the whole of the district. They work closely with the Council’s Housing Team who also act proactively to ensure council housing is not used in an anti-social or criminal way. The expansion of the ASB Team also provides additional resilience when rates of anti-social behaviour increase as the team have the resource to target specific areas.