ASBO quashed on grounds of impracticality

A builder who cold-called two vulnerable pensioners and convinced them they needed roofing work done on their homes has had his antisocial behaviour order quashed by top judges on appeal.

The builder cold-called two elderly women and persuaded them to employ him to carry out work to their roofs. The women later complained of the qulaity of the work, and neither was told in writing – as was their right – that they could cancel the work.

The builder was jailed for nine months, suspended for two years, for fraud by misrepresentation and breaches of consumer protection law at Carlisle in December  and was jailed for nine months, suspended for two years.A month later he was also handed an ASBO prohibiting him from making unsolicited calls to private dwelling houses in person in order to obtain building, maintenance or gardening work.

However, Mr Justice King, sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, has ruled that the Asbo was “impractical” to enforce and quashed it. If the order is impractical to police, then it will achieve nothing,” said the judge.

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