Section 222 Injunction Granted for Moseley Village to stop aggressive begging and street drinking

Section 222 Injunction Granted for Moseley Village to stop aggressive begging and street drinking

I’ve just been sent the below e-mail from the local police about the introduction of a Section 222 injunction. I would like to thank Jonathan Antill and Oliver Humpidge for their work on this, which they have been working on since late last year.

We the sudden increase in street drinking and aggressive begging in the last six weeks in the centre of Moseley, hopefully this will be useful addition in the numerous tools in combating this anti-social activity.

In the meantime Councillor Ernie Hendricks has been working in the background with council officers and the CDT and has been successful in raining in £90,000 to fund a multi agency response to tackle the street drinkers and aggressive beggars. It is hoped the funding will be used to guide and encourage them towards anti-addiction clinics and mental health support if necessary.

Text of e-mail as follows


Subject: s.222 Injunction Granted for Moseley Village!

It brings me great pleasure to announce that the High Court today granted a
12 month s.222 Injunction against "Persons Unknown" for Moseley Village. I
would have attached a copy of the order for your perusal however the Court
cannot release the order until Monday. I will cascade the order as soon as
I receive it, which will include a map of the applicable area, however here
are the conditions:

Conditions of the s.222 Injunction

1. All persons are forbidden, in any public place within Moseley Village,
the boundaries of which are delineated in red on a map attached to this
order at Schedule 1 to this Order, from:
(a) being in possession of an opened container of alcohol, save that the
possession of such a container is permitted where the alcohol within the
container is being or was consumed, with permission of the licensee, within
the curtilage of licensed premises with an on-licence;
(b) begging;
(c) urinating or defecating or exposing their genitalia, other than when
using a toilet which is available for use by members of the public;
(d) having sexual intercourse


I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this case, especially
the residents who provided the majority of the 28 witness statements.

This is the first time that Birmingham City Council have obtained a s.222
Injunction in relation to this type of activity for a specified area rather
than against an individual. The legislation has been used previously
against Car Cruisers in another part of the City.

There will now be a period of publicity to ensure the wider community are
sufficiently aware of the conditions. Leaflets and posters will be produced
for local residents and shops, which will be hand-delivered by the Safer
Communities Team and members of the Moseley & Kings Heath Neighbourhood
Team. There will also be an application for a press release and notices
placed inside the s.222 zone.

An exercise of informing the local hostels will be undertaken immediately.
West Midlands Police will also identify any individuals in the local area
who may have caused similar problems in the past. They will then receive
details of the s.222 to persuade them against breaching the order.

The Safer Communities Team and West Midlands Police will then begin
enforcing this order. I will update you concerning the progress of the
publicity and give a clear date of when we will commence enforcing the
order.

Anyone who subsequently breaches the order will be served with a copy and
named within these proceedings. This means that any breach of the order
needs to be reported to West Midlands Police on 101. Birmingham City
Council will then use the evidence, along with the name, D.O.B and address
of the individual to record their details with the High Court. If the
individual then breaches the Injunction, it would be considered contempt of
court and they would be back before a Judge for a Committal hearing, which
could result in a fine, imprisonment or both.

I do hope this e-mail clearly outlines our intention for dealing with the
enforcement side of the s.222, I do wholly appreciate there is a support
side that is just as important. If you do have any concerns or queries,
then please feel free to contact me directly and I will be more than happy
to discuss this in greater detail.

Kind regards

Jonathan Antill
Safer Communities Officer - East LPU
Birmingham Community Safety Partnership