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Addict can
keep his foil and Rizlas
'Paraphernalia' Asbo refused
A JUDGE has refused to ban a drug addict from carrying
drug paraphernalia on the grounds the definition is too vague.
Just days after Camden Council leader Raj Chadha refused to
rule out the possibility of taking out anti-social behaviour
orders (Asbos) against sellers of drug paraphernalia in a bid
to clean up the borough’s streets, deputy district judge
Tim Daber has dealt a blow to the idea.
Granting an interim anti-social behaviour order against drug
user Franciso Tomas, Judge Daber, said: “There’s this
problem of defining what paraphernalia is. Is it an empty coke
can? Does it have to be adapted? There are a lot of everyday
items that are involved in drug taking, for example Rizlas and
silver foil.”
At a hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on Thursday,
Camden Council successfully secured an interim anti-social behaviour
order against Tomas, who allegedly smoked crack in Barnes House,
Camden Road, stole from drunk people and was found in possession
of drug paraphernalia.
Tomas, of no fixed abode, was banned from parts of Camden but
prosecutor Peter Johns failed to persuade the court to add a
condition stopping him from carrying any paraphernalia associated
with his habit.
Mr Johns told the court police officers often struggled to catch
a user in the act because it only took a matter of seconds for
the drugs to be consumed. He argued stopping Tomas from carrying
anything associated with drug use would make it more difficult
for him to reoffend.
Tomas was banned from parts of the borough and prohibited from
acting in a manner likely to cause harassment, distress or alarm
to any person not of the same household as himself. The order
was made until April 18. |
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