of alcohol, Mr Thames went to the council's district housing office to seek accommodation. He made threatening gestures and shouted obscenities and abuse at staff and at other visitors to the office.
The council applied for a special injunction under section 152 of the 1996 Housing Act, with a power of arrest. The council said the district office staff were working "in the locality" of nearby council housing (which is a precondition for such injunctions).
The judge refused to grant the order and was upheld by the appeal court. For the purposes of the Housing Act, there had to be some connection between the victims and the council housing; the fact that the victims were staff in an office in the vicinity of council housing was not a sufficient connection.
Source
Housing Today
Reference
This case follows an earlier decision that the precondition was not satisfied by staff at a social services office based near council housing (Enfield LBC v B, 2000). Although this application failed, an ordinary injunction could still be obtained in such circumstances or an application could be made for an antisocial behaviour order.
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