Teen Handed Two-Year Criminal Order for Blackwood Disorder

A teenager has been handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) following reports of anti-social behaviour in Blackwood town centre. 👮‍♀️

Tilly Giles, 18, received the order at Newport Magistrates Court on Tuesday 29 April to curb her “reckless and disorderly behaviour.”

The restrictions prevent her from entering the retail park and being in the bus station between 7pm and 7am. She is also banned from associating with a specific individual and “acting in a manner that causes or likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to persons not in the same household as you.”

Inspector Chris Hopkin, who leads the neighbourhood policing team in Blackwood, said:

“These orders aren’t issued lightly and are often only considered after we’ve worked with the individual and partners to try to resolve the issue.

“Unfortunately, our attempts to work with this young woman to turn her reckless and disorderly behaviour around haven’t had the desired effect, leading us to taking the rare step to issue a CBO to someone so young.

“We recognise Tilly is still young, however, and hope the result in court opens her eyes to the impact her behaviour has had on the town and community over recent months.”

The court heard that the CBO followed a string of incidents in February when Giles, then 17, was arrested on suspicion of several offences including assaulting an emergency worker, failing to comply with a community protection notice, criminal damage, using threatening words, and displaying behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Inspector Hopkin added: “Earlier this year, we saw an increase in reports of anti-social behaviour across the town and carried out a multi-agency operation to tackle it. “The use of dispersal orders, increased patrols and enforcement activity where numerous arrests were made resulted in reports decreasing, and I hope this CBO helps this trend continue. “Officers remain committed to tackling anti-social behaviour, and, while reports have decreased recently, we will continue to carry out additional patrols in the town.”

If Giles breaches any conditions of her CBO, which runs until 29 April 2027, she will be committing a criminal offence and could face arrest. If found guilty, she may be fined, imprisoned, or both. ⚖️

The court also imposed a community order requiring Giles to complete rehabilitation activity requirements and perform 100 hours of unpaid community work.