A 45-year-old man has been banned from entering a whole area of Bristol following anti-social behaviour issues. Steven Bryson, of Ashley Road, Montpelier, Bristol, has been presented with a Criminal Behaviour Order at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Monday (July 3), banning him from entering the Southmead area.
Bryson has been heavily linked with the distribution of Class A drugs in the area, which has had a damaging impact on the local community.
Officers have made every effort to engage with Bryson to address his behaviour, including being offered referrals to drug and alcohol services, including the Bristol Drugs Project, however all of these opportunities have been in vain.
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Along with the CBO, Bryson was served with a Community Protection Warning, which excluded him from properties owned or managed by Bristol City Council in the Southmead area.
He was then handed a Community Protection Notice which excluded him from the Southmead area. However, he still continued to frequent properties and engage with drug activity and be in possession of drugs.
Bryson has more than 20 convictions relating to anti-social behaviour, drugs, theft, fraud and other offences. After all efforts and intervention had been exhausted, Bryson appeared before magistrates on Monday when he was convicted of breaching his CPN.
He received a 24-month community order and the court granted officers a CBO for two years, forbidding him from entering the Southmead Exclusion Zone.
Neighbourhood policing Insp Richard Jones said: “Bryson has shown a blatant disregard at all other attempts to curb his involvement in Class A drugs in Southmead.
“This type of drug-related behaviour has a huge impact on the local community and, as a result, multiple residents have supported the use of anti-social behaviour tools and powers to prevent ongoing behaviour which has a detrimental effect on their lives.
“This result is one of many steps the North and Centre Anti-Social Behaviour Team and the Southmead Neighbourhood Policing Team are taking to curb drug dealing and criminal behaviour in our communities.”
Bryson’s behaviour order comes at the same time as Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week, running from July 3 to 9, which aims to encourage communities to take a stand against ASB and highlight the actions which can be taken by those experiencing it.
A recent YouGov research, commissioned by Resolve, found that almost one in five people have had to consider moving home because of the impact ASB was having on them; one in 10 have actually moved. Despite this, over half of those surveyed who were either a victim or witness of ASB did not report the ASB.
