‘Boredom and youth not an excuse for criminality’: councillor reacts after teens run amok in Southwater

This is the message from Horsham District Councillor Billy Greening as he spoke out after reports of teenagers running amok in Southwater.

Residents say groups of teenagers have been running amok for some time. Destructive behaviour has seen gangs of teens taking drugs, damaging cars, vandalising property in Southwater Country Park, setting fire to the village skatepark and throwing stones at vehicles.

Residents have frequently been intimidated while shopping in Lintot Square.

In a statement, Mr Greening said: “I know that many of you will be concerned with the increase in antisocial behaviour that we have seen during this third lockdown.

“We’ve all been teenagers, and at the best of times Southwater has a limited number of activities that young people can enjoy. This sense of boredom is exacerbated by nothing currently being open.

“Nevertheless, boredom and being young is not an excuse for criminality. Low level crime, smashing windows, taking drugs and being a general nuisance has a wide effect on local communities.”

Anti-social behaviour needs to be addressed with a wrap around, multi agency approach, this means different levels of local government and the state, working with youth workers, the police, other youth groups and volunteers, he said.

Mr Greening added: “This is why I was so pleased to see an increase in police throughout Southwater over the past week.

“It was also great to see youth workers engaging with the young people in question last night and also this evening (Friday).

“Front line workers, such as these and our community wardens work really hard. Often without the credit they truly deserve.

“The police are very aware of the issues ongoing and HDC are working with them and other agencies to tackle this concerning problem.

“The best way to tackle anti-social behaviour is to stop it at its roots. If you treat the cause of the problem it has long term benefits. Tackling crime is about preventing it from happening in the first place.”

More meetings with the police are planned and Mr Greening said Horsham District Council and Southwater Parish Council will work with the police and other groups to come up with a comprehensive strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour.

He added: “If you see a crime being committed, no matter how small, call the police. Every crime logged is fed into a database, tackling crime over a period of time is evidence based, it can’t just be anecdotal. Writing on Facebook is not the same.”

Southwater Parish Council and the police have also spoken out about the behaviour. Read more here