Half a mile from Manchester's thriving city centre, where flats sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds, is the urban wasteland of the Beswick estate. Security cameras monitor residents' every move and a walkway has been boarded up by the council in an effort to prevent crime. Local authorities and chief police officers, acting in consultation, may apply to a magistrates' court for what is in effect a banning order, protecting the community from a named individual alleged to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others.
Hearsay evidence is acceptable, as it is so difficult to persuade witnesses to appear.
Yet a breach of an order is a criminal offence, the penalty for which may be anything up to a five-year jail sentence. Gillian Crossley, the McCanns' solicitor, argues that Asbos should have been set wholly within the criminal justice context. Indeed, she is taking the case to appeal on this point. The order against the McCanns has anyway proved counter-productive, Crossley claims. The family was marginalised and the order caused more trouble for them.