Relief to vulnerable residents

Although she welcomed the asbos, Newark and Sherwood district councillor Mrs Gill Dawn said they did not go far enough.

She said Fenton Close should have been included, as it was the main meeting place and the only area not protected by cameras.

She said the boys should also have been banned from associating with each other.

Mrs Dawn said: “These boys are the three ringleaders.

“When they are apart they are well behaved and polite children, but when they are together they are a nightmare.

“I am dreadfully disappointed they didn’t find some way of imposing Fenton Close. I see more mischief-making.”

It was felt to be impractical to ban them from Fenton Close, as Goodrum lives there.

She described the granting of the asbos as an immense relief to old folk on Yorke Drive.

“Residents will now be able to keep an eye on them and won’t hesitate to call the police with information,” she said.

“They have been a continual hassle for so long.

“Cliff looks like an angel. He knocked on my door the other day and asked if he could walk my dog. I told him: ‘No’ because he would sell it for £1.

“He replied that he wouldn’t because he didn’t have a buyer lined up that day.”

The two defence solicitors and the prosecutor struck a deal in court, after agreeing that proposed conditions were too restrictive, given the level of offending.

The conditions that were being sought have not been revealed.

Sergeant Tim Burch, who runs the Safer Neighbourhood policing teams in Newark, said: “It has been a real team effort by the police, district council, local councillors and the community to secure these anti-social behaviour orders.

“An enormous amount of excellent partnership work is being done to improve community safety and increase reassurance in the area, which has contributed to a 21% reduction in crime compared with last year.

“Criminal damage was the area’s biggest problem and reports of incidents are now down 24% on last year.”

The chief of police in Newark and Sherwood, Chief Inspector Mark Holland, said: “It is no good just issuing an asbo, they have to be policed.

“There have been too many instances around the country where asbos have been obtained and not policed.

“My commitment is that they will be policed in this area but we need the public’s help in doing that.

“They need to make themselves aware of the conditions and tell us of any breaches or additional anti-social behaviour.”