Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

As the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, spoke, I grew in sympathy towards the amendment. The trouble with ASBOs at the moment is that they are being collected as trophies. An awful lot of the children who get them do not feel too strongly about them. It rather depends on whether they will feel any more strongly about them if they are there for two years rather than for three months. There should be flexibility in the courts about how long ASBOs are given for. An ASBO is a civil disposal for offences that will vary widely, so that flexibility should be allowed. I am shocked by the number of detention and training orders that are resulting from these ASBOs. That needs to be looked at. To put children into any sort of custody other than for the most heinous crime seems to me to be going way further than we should be.