Clause 29 - Dispersal of groups and removal of persons under 16 to their place of residence
Anti-social Behaviour Bill
3:45 pm
Mr Matthew Green (Ludlow, Liberal Democrat)
I agree entirely that those who are most victimised by youth crime are other young people. The people who are most likely to be attacked in the street are young men. The figures speak for themselves, and I have done the Committee a disservice by not drawing them to its attention. However, they do not alter my conclusions.
I believe that I am the youngest person in the Committee. Not that long ago, I was of an age at which I would be affected by such activities. I can remember times as a teenager when I was alarmed, distressed or intimidated by groups of other teenagers, and I imagine that at times every one of us has felt like that. However, thinking back to those times, would we really have wanted the law to deal with our problems? That is what it comes down to. When we were teenagers, would we have gone to the police and said, ''I have been intimidated and harassed. Would you please go and move that bunch of young people on?''