Criminal Behaviour Order

A 35-year-old woman from St.Helens has been given a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Maria Higham has been issued a full order by St.Helens Magistrates that will last for two years from 19 January, 2015 and means she is now prohibited from entering any self-service retail store in St Helens town centre as well as any self-service store in St Helens outside the town centre without the permission of a staff member.

She is also prohibited from residing, dwelling or spending the night in any residence without the permission of the landlord, owner or housing association.

St.Helens Neighbourhood Inspector Dave Brennan said: "This individual has been causing considerable problems to retailers and others in the town centre.

"I hope this sends out a strong message to those people who are intent on blighting our communities, that we will use all the powers and tools available to us to ensure the vast majority of our citizens can live, work and socialise in a happy and safe environment.

"We are determined to do everything we can to stop people taking advantage of vulnerable adults living in the community and urge anyone who knows of any similar situations to contact us."

The CBO was introduced last year to give agencies and communities the power to deal with the hard-core of persistently anti-social individuals who are also engaged in criminal activity.

Breaching the order has tough criminal sanctions and can lead to a maximum sentence of five years in prison.