TWO more teenage members of the Basingstoke Street Gang have been found guilty of breaching their injunction order.
The boys from South Ham and Popley, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were part of a group of ten young people aged between 16 and 17 who were banned from contact with each other for two years from March 19, after police raised concerns about criminal activity linked to the group.
However, the pair were seen together in Winklebury on March 30 by a police officer in an unmarked car.
The pair denied the accusation, but were found guilty at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court today (Friday, April 23).
It comes after a fellow gang member was detained for two weeks at a hearing earlier this week, also for breaching the order.
Mr Crorie, prosecuting on behalf of Hampshire Constabulary, called on PC Frank Jones of Basingstoke Police to give evidence in court.
PC Jones said he was on patrol, driving along Ashwood Way onto Wellington Terrace, at around 3.40pm when he saw the boys.
One was riding an electric scooter and looked into the car, before turning to his friend. As PC Jones drove past them, he could see the pair “making off at speed” in his rear view mirror, as though they had recognised him.
The policeman said that, although the interaction was only around three or four seconds long, he could “positively identify” the two boys as he has had “many dealings with them before”.
Ms Parker, defending one of the teenagers, said her client had his hood up and tied tightly, which could have obscured his face, however PC Jones claimed he could see their faces clearly.
Ms Parker said: “I am going to put it to you that you assumed it was [him] because you have seen a young male with an electric scooter, and you cannot be sure that it was him”.
PC Jones responded: “No, I am certain that it was him”.
Mr Stott, defending the other teenager, added that his client was not in Winklebury that day, but in fact at Stratton Park, in Kempshott, “kicking a ball with old school friends”.
The boy said he specifically remembered because “it was that hot day in particular, 20-something degrees.”
Mr Stott added: “I am going to suggest to you that you did not see [him], because he was not there.”
However, Mr Crorie pointed out that the teenager had failed to persuade any of the alleged school friends to attend court to provide an alibi.
District Judge Tim Pattinson found both boys guilty of breaching the injunction order.
“PC Jones knows both very well. It is recent and ongoing contact. He had a clear view, this was more than a fleeting view of both boys,” he said.
The judge continued: “Taking into account all the guidelines and precautions, I have absolutely no hesitation in accepting PC Jones’ evidence in its entirety, and I find therefore that there is absolutely no doubt that both of you were together at that time and were associating with each other.”
As it was a first breach for both teenagers, the judge issued them with a four-week electronically tagged curfew between 8pm and 4am, adding: “If there is a breach of that curfew or a further breach of the injunction then I will have detainment, locking you up, very much in my mind.”
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