The sister of a person who was just lately accused in court docket of anti-social behaviour by Westminster Council, regardless of having died two years in the past, has mentioned she feels “disgusted”.
Bryan Boswell, who died in 2019, was named with two different defendants in the council’s utility for an injunction in opposition to anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Maida Hill Square, West London.
Obtained in late January, the injunction enabled council officers to challenge fines in opposition to individuals who gathered in massive teams, performed loud music and allegedly dealt medicine.
But the council has confronted a backlash from some native residents who mentioned its officers used these powers to discriminate in opposition to teams of aged Afro Caribbean males who met in the Square to play dominoes and backgammon.
Printed copies of the injunction, displaying Mr Boswell’s title, had been posted on lampposts across the Square the place the ant-social behaviour is mentioned to have been an issue.
Mr Boswell’s sister, Anita Boswell, expressed shock that accusations about her brother had been used to justify the council’s utility.
Maida Hill market sq. has seen a rise in anti-social behaviour in accordance the Westminster Council
(Image: Google)
“I used to be so irritated once I noticed this. I assumed, ‘how dare they?’ He’s not even right here and so they’re accusing him of anti-social behaviour. I’m fairly disgusted with it,” mentioned Ms Boswell, 54, and who now lives in Hendon.
“So the decide approves the injunction from the council with out even seeing any of those individuals? It sounds actually odd. It’s stunning.”
The council right this moment (March 30) mentioned it was unaware of Mr Boswell’s demise when it utilized for the controversial injunction.
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“We wish to apologise to his household for the misery this error has induced,” a council spokesperson mentioned.
Anita mentioned her late brother was born in Dundee however raised in Paddington. He lived in Maida Vale and labored as a glazer till he began to battle with alcoholism. He died aged 53 on April 13, 2019 following a small bowel infarction, an damage to the small gut induced by inadequate blood stream.
Paying tribute to Ms Boswell, she mentioned: “I used to be very near him. He was a very good particular person… He was the kind of one that would provide you with his final penny.”
Responding to criticisms of the injunction, the council spokesperson mentioned: “Westminster City Council was granted this injunction in response to critical crime and protracted anti-social behaviour in this space over quite a lot of years. The council has obtained greater than 200 complaints from native residents, whose lives have been considerably disrupted by a variety of anti-social behaviour.
“Groups of as much as 60 individuals, of all ages, had been travelling into the realm late at night time, and the council is conscious of a number of incidents of public consuming, noise, class A drug dealing, drug use, theft, prostitution, as nicely as urination and defecation in the road. At least one resident was compelled to maneuver residence due to the disruption this behaviour has induced.”
Queens Park neighborhood councillor Brian Nicholas has been working with council officers to discover a new facility for aged males who need to meet and play board video games, and who felt wrongly focused by the injunction.
But he too was crucial of how, beside Mr Boswell’s title, the injunction talked about “individuals unknown” among the many defendants.
Cllr Nicholas mentioned: “‘Persons Unknown’ is ridiculous, that’s profiling individuals, that is a licence to profile individuals the place the council can select whoever they need to transfer alongside… How did they get this by the court docket?”
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The council spokesperson added: “We are sympathetic to the well being and wellbeing of residents unable to socialize throughout lockdown, significantly our older residents. The council has made quite a lot of efforts to interact with the core group of people that collect in the Square to supply them with neighborhood amenities for socialising. Our precedence all through this course of has been, and at all times will likely be, the protection of our residents.”
On March 26 the council gained a renewal of the injunction at Central London County Court, however with an modification to make sure that native residents wouldn’t be prohibited from assembly in the Square except real issues with ASB had been going down.
Another one of many defendants, Ernest Theophile, 73, mentioned after the listening to: “Now we are able to play the dominoes, the backgammon and so forth and a few playing cards.”
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