BRITAIN: A "model" teenage boy won a landmark High Court ruling yesterday against the legality of child curfew zones, leaving the high profile attempt by British prime minister Tony Blair to reduce anti-social behaviour in disarray.
The 15-year-old boy brought the case against London's police and his local council in Richmond, west London, over their right to remove any under 16-year-old unaccompanied by an adult from an area after 9pm regardless of their behaviour.
Lord Justice Brooke said everyone should have the right to "walk the streets without interference from police".
He also said the current law did not give police the right to force someone to go home.
The boy, known as "W" for legal reasons, said the use of curfews infringed his right to liberty under the European Convention on Human Rights and discriminated against him because he was a child.
"Of course I have no problem with being stopped by the police if I've done something wrong," he said in a statement. But they shouldn't be allowed to treat me like a criminal just because I'm under 16."
A spokeswoman for the Home Office said the ruling would affect curfew orders across the country.
She insisted police still had powers to break up large groups of teenagers who were causing trouble. However, they cannot insist they go home.
The spokeswoman also said the Home Office would appeal.
The boy brought his case against the wealthy west London borough of Richmond and the Metropolitan Police but during the hearing, the court was told it would have far wider implications for the way police work.
Lawyers for the boy said some 400 such orders were made between January and September 2004 across the country and that "a large number of people" had as a result had their freedom to move "curtailed or fettered".
Human rights watchdog Liberty, which represented "W" in court, said the teenager was a model student and declared the case a victory "for the presumption of innocence".
"We all have a shared interest in genuine efforts to address crime but you don't teach respect by acting unfairly," it said.
Richmond council leader Tony Arbour said he was "very disappointed" that "a useful tool" to keep Richmond safe had been, as far as he could tell, "more or less neutered".
Concern over disruptive behaviour by gangs of teenagers, especially in town centres late at night, was a key issue in last May's election.
Mr Blair had promised to crackdown on yobbish anti-social behaviour and instill more respect among the young.