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Criminals ordered to rub out graffiti

Gavin Hird
15/10/2003

CRIMINAL chain gangs will be forced to scrub graffiti off walls in Bollington under new plans put forward by the Cheshire Probation Service.

Offenders sentenced to Community Punishment Orders in court have to carry out unpaid labour for the benefit of the community, and now the writing is on the wall in the town as councillors voted unanimously to set convicted prisoners to work. They believe the community has been blighted by graffiti for far too long.

Coun Mark Stedman said: "Eighteen months ago I raised the problem of graffiti in Bollington and tried to find out if we could do something about it. This is an offer to do something that hasn't been done in 18 months."

Coun Sandra Edwards added: "I think it is a good thing to show a positive attitude towards this gesture. Things may have gone wrong in the past, but this is part of the justice that our community accepts as being relevant and suitable for people who have offended in various ways."

Bollington Town Council would have to pay £20 for the privilege of having a gang of four to six people and their supervisor per day, working on Wednesdays and Sundays between 9am and 3pm. And there is up to £1,000 in the General Projects budget.

While voting in favour of the plan, Coun John Kershaw felt uncomfortable about bringing criminals into the town who could take the opportunity of planning their next crime.

"The last time we had anything to do with this, they took the opportunity to find out about their next job," he said. "There were quite a few robberies just after they had been, but I suppose you take a chance on this sort of thing."