'CRIMINAL' LITTER PICKER CONCERNS

A COUNCILLOR says he does not want to see "criminals" being drafted in to pick up litter on streets and roads in the Ballymoney area because of budget and staff issues at the local Council.

Ulster Unionist James Simpson - a town centre businessman in Ballymoney - says people would have fears over offenders committing further crime as a result of being out and about and being presented with opportunities for theft.

Ballymoney Council has raised the possibility of getting assistance to pick up litter.

Council minutes said: 'Responding to questions relating to litter picking on a number of roads highlighted by members as problem areas, the Deputy Director of Borough Services agreed, due to budget and staffing constraints, to look into the assistance of those members of the community who are undergoing rehabilitation via Probation Services and other similar sources'.

Alderman Simpson told the Times he does not want to see "criminals" out cleaning the streets of Ballymoney as he believes unscrupulous elements could seek to benefit.

He said: "Who will supervise these people picking up litter? You could have a boy with convictions for theft and he might see a lot of juicy things in houses.

"The budget in the Council is a bit of a shambles this year. I would have thought if we were to employ anybody to do this work it would be unemployed people rather than criminals.

"I understand these people have to be rehabilitated but this is not the way.

"At the Council meeting I said I didn't think it was advisable. What would the supervision be if somebody was walking round the town lifting up litter and he was convicted of theft from a building? People would not be very happy.

"And we will have to find out if the scheme will involve former prisoners or people who have been given Community Service in courts," said Alderman Simpson.

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland says that through the Community Service scheme each year offenders deliver an average of 100,000 hours of unpaid work to the community in Northern Ireland.

They say some examples of community service work are environmental and conservation projects, painting and decorating, gardening and home maintenance.

The Probation Board's website says: 'The community service sentence enables offenders to pay back to the community for their wrong doing.

'Current legislation states that a person of, or over 16 years of age, who is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, the Court may make a Community Service Order requiring him to perform unpaid work with the offender's consent of not less than 40 hours and not more than 240 hours.

'The purpose of a Community Service Order is to prevent further offending by integrating the offender into the community through:

'* Successful completion of positive and demanding unpaid work;

'* Keeping to requirements; and

'* Reparation to the community by undertaking socially useful work.'

The Probation Service added: 'Community Service continues to be an important sentencing option for the Courts and provides opportunities for direct and indirect reparation for the benefit of the community. The evidence of the success of Community Service as a sentencing option is based on:

'* A re-conviction rate of 25% in Northern Ireland over a two year period. This compares favourably to those of other sentences in Northern Ireland and in Great Britain.

'* The Community Service Order is readily understood by all relevant parties; courts, offenders, and the community.

'Community Service Orders and Combination Orders account for 24% of total orders supervised by PBNI. The courts made 975 such orders in 2007-2008, with a total of 1874 orders being supervised by PBNI during that year.

'This represents almost a 25% increase from five years previous. PBNI employs a total of 38 staff dedicated to the day to day management and supervision of community service. Other staff, including Area Managers providing managerial oversight and Probation Officers performing specific tasks such as assessment and enforcement, complement these staff.

'The Community Service scheme enjoys extensive partnerships throughout the Northern Ireland community. Currently offenders carry out their community service hours in approximately 200 community based locations performing a wide range of tasks, for example; environmental work including gardening and general maintenance, assisting in charity shops, redecoration of community facilities, private homes, care taking and cleaning duties, football coaching, assisting in luncheon clubs for elderly.

'PBNI has supported these partnerships by providing financial grants from its Community Development budget to a range of community and voluntary organisations. In 2008-2009 a total of 149,500 was paid out in grants,' said the Probation Board website.