Banning Orders

There was a specific ask from the rail trade unions to explore whether a banning order, similar to a football banning order, could be used to prevent offenders from re-entering the railway after committing a crime. A representative from Police Scotland was invited to provide an overview of how football banning orders work in operation. They raised a number of key factors that the Group should be aware of, such as the proportionality of such an order and the reluctance of the courts in restricting people’s personal freedoms.

It was noted that some football banning orders can restrict a person from entering a city or town on the day their team is playing and the Group questioned whether a similar restriction could be applied on the railway, for example restricting a person from travelling on evening rail services or into a city or town centre.

There was an understanding that there is little to prevent someone who has committed an offence while using the railway from continuing access those services, which can lead to staff and passengers feeling distressed and anxious. External members of the Group agreed that the creation of a ‘Railway Banning Order’ may be an effective tool to address the issue of repeat offenders and were asked what types of behaviour would merit the use of such an order. This included:

• Repeat offenders of ASB.
• Anyone convicted of assault on a railway worker.
• Anyone endangering the safe working of a train service.
• Anyone convicted of a sexual offence on a train service or railway property.
• Anyone convicted of theft from a train.
• Anyone interfering with any onboard safety equipment.

The Group also examined existing court orders which could potentially prevent an offender from entering the rail environment, these included Antisocial Behaviour Banning Orders (ASBOs), Interdicts, Bail Conditions and Community Payback Orders. Again, the autonomous nature of the courts was raised, and it was noted that Sheriffs may view denying someone from accessing rail services as a particularly restrictive measure, unless they were satisfied that a person had repeatedly committed offences on rail services, at stations or within the rail environment. Therefore, the Group wanted to explore whether a more localised banning order would be more effective, but less restrictive, in order to seek to satisfy the courts.

The Group noted that ASBOs could be an effective tool to address antisocial behaviour on the railway. However, they were aware that under the current legislation it is only possible for local authorities or social landlords to apply to the court for an ASBO. This generated two discussion points for the Group to consider:

• Whether SRH (as the company that oversees SRT and Caledonian Sleeper services) could be afforded powers under ASBO legislation to apply to the courts for an ASBO.

• Whether SRT could build its relationships with local authorities to request that they make an application to the courts for an ASBO following incidents on the railway.

SRT and BTP shared a case study with the Group which outlined where partnership working with West Dumbartonshire council, Police Scotland and BTP led to a substantial decrease in the number of antisocial behaviour events being reported.