Fears for civil liberties under ASBIs as hundreds jailed for minor offences

Hundreds of people have been jailed for minor offences – including feeding birds, sleeping rough and making a noise – that breach antisocial behaviour injunctions, according to a study.

- Jessica Murray

Academics and civil liberties campaigners have warned of a lack of sentencing guidance and public oversight, saying disadvantaged groups are disproportionately targeted.

Out of 242 cases examined from 2020-2024, there were 72 cases of imprisonment for general nuisance, 61 for abusive language and 51 for noise, researchers at the universities of York and Coventry found. Of 97 cases, 57% of people had no legal representation at the breach hearing that led to their imprisonment.

Prof Caroline Hunter from York Law School said: "People are not getting proper representation and they get sent to prison for sometimes long periods. There's no sentencing guidance for this. People might have a lot of issues that need to be dealt with, but they are not dealt with by sending them to prison."