A loud crash jolts Paul Wheeler into waking up in the middle of the night.
As he peers out of his bedroom window, which overlooks the park at the back of his home in a quiet, suburban part of Kent, he sees a shadowy figure setting fire to something.
It’s a warm summer night, Labour is celebrating its landslide election win. For the first time in 14 years, there is a new government in place, which has made big promises on crime.
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Anti-social behaviour torments community
As the flames rage close to his garden fence, Paul, 46, starts to film the drama unfolding outside his home, while his two children sleep soundly in the next room.
“You need to ring 999 right now,” he tells his wife. “People are setting light to something right by the gate at the front of the park.”
Then there’s an explosion and smoke fills the air.
A motorcycle on fire in the park outside Paul Wheeler’s house
For the last four years, gangs of mainly teenagers have caused trouble in the park behind Paul’s house, terrorising him and his neighbours. He pleaded with the council to install CCTV but his request was turned down.
The next morning, the charred remains of a motorbike lie at the park entrance. The gate is damaged and the ground is covered in debris including bits of wire, nuts and bolts. The flames have turned the leaves of a large tree a rusty brown.
Paul’s experience mirrors that of thousands of other communities around Britain who say their concerns about anti-social behaviour, which includes anything from vandalism to public drunkenness and noise disturbances, aren’t being taken seriously by police and local councils.
Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, talks to victims of anti-social behaviour
Paul Wheeler and Jackie Beamiss
One million incidents a year
A landmark report by the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, details a failure by those agencies to respond to the one million incidents of anti-social behaviour recorded every year by police.
The report finds that two-thirds of people (35%) who reported anti-social behaviour said their problem had not been resolved.
The majority, more than 60%, reported it to multiple agencies.
And a staggering 70% said they received no support at all.
For people like Paul, living with anti-social behaviour has taken a heavy toll on his mental health. “It makes you fearful,” he says. “It gives us massive amounts of anxiety and stress.”
Jackie Beamiss has called the police and written to her local MP and council over the problems
His neighbour Jackie Beamiss, 68, has also experienced feelings of despair over the disturbances in the park. Calling and emailing Kent Police, writing to her local MP and the council, are all actions she says she has taken over the past four years.
“I’m fed up with nobody listening to us or appreciating how serious it can be,” says Jackie, who has been dealing with this on top of a breast cancer diagnosis. “I feel too intimidated to even let my dog out in the back garden.”
Neighbourhood Watch coordinator Garry Turner says the message they get back from the police is they need more evidence. “You can’t get more evidence than what has been provided. And we’re still not getting the response we deserve,” he adds.
Local Neighborhood Watch coordinator Garry Turner
One in three experience or see anti-social behaviour
According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, published in March, 35% of people have experienced or witnessed some type of anti-social behaviour.
The findings reveal deep-rooted problems in some communities, driven by economic hardship, social fragmentation and the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A group of young people in the park outside Paul Wheeler’s house
Back in Wilmot Park, Paul is still upset by what he witnessed on the night of the fire and thinks the police took too long to respond. It appears to have been an attack on a gate at the park entrance that was installed by the council in 2023.
Kent Police told Sky News they are “aware of local concerns” and working with Dartford Borough Council to address these issues. They said they attended the incident with the motorbike “within hours” but haven’t caught those responsible.
In a statement, they added: “We have teams who regularly patrol the area and also have a dedicated beat officer who residents can talk to directly.”
A spokesperson for Dartford Borough Council said: “We fully understand that any anti-social behaviour (ASB) is incredibly frustrating for residents and has a negative impact on the wider community.
“In relation to Wilmot Park we will continue to respond to incidents of ASB where we have the evidence and powers to do so, and have also increased our park ranger presence in the park in recent months.”
Previous approaches have been too reactive, focusing on punishment rather than prevention, according to Baroness Newlove, whose husband Garry was kicked to death by a gang of youths in 2007, after he confronted them outside the family home in Warrington, Cheshire.
Garry Newlove died in 2007 after being kicked to death by a gang of youths. Pic: Family handout
“It’s been 17 years since Garry’s life was taken. It saddens and angers me that anti-social behaviour is still being classed as low level, a misdemeanour.
“Victims are forced to jump hurdle after hurdle to get the response they deserve. They have to be taken more seriously.”
Despite numerous attempts by successive governments to address the problem, the issue has continued to plague communities.
The new government says combating anti-social behaviour is a central focus of its policy agenda. But this is not the first time that Labour has said it would focus heavily on combatting anti-social behaviour.
Read more:
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Councils fail to crack down on anti-social behaviour
A swing in Wilmot Park
Under Tony Blair, the party campaigned and won the 1997 election with the promise to be “tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime”. It then introduced anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) designed to crack down on individuals causing problems in their community.
But the success of ASBOs was limited. Around half were breached and Labour failed to meet any of their targets to reduce reoffending, according to the National Audit Office.
‘Tackle individuals who cause problems’
When I asked the policing minister, Dame Diana Johnson, what the new proposed ‘respect orders’ would entail, she said her department was “working up” its plans on respect orders.
But it’s actions, not words that victims like Paul and Jackie want to see.
“We need to get much better at this joined-up approach to dealing with what’s going on in communities,” Dame Diana said. “And tackling the individuals who are causing the problems.”
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The government also says it wants to hold local authorities accountable for their role in tackling anti-social behaviour.
Councils will be required to do more to work with police forces, schools, and community organisations, and worst-performing councils could lose out on funding as a result.
But after years of persistent anti-social behaviour outside his home, Paul has a message for the new prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer.
“If you don’t do something about it, it’s only going to get worse.
“Police and councils are not taking responsibility. People are not experiencing consequences, and they need to know that they will be punished for what they do.
“We should not have to live in fear.”
:: If you have been affected by anti-social behaviour please contact Nick Martin directly or Sky News.