We recently received this email from a mother in Cornwall, who was issued with an ASB warning and two Community Protection Warnings banning her from reporting stalking incidents to the council or police. This case shows how authorities are using these powers to silence people, including people trying to report crimes. Because ASB powers are so open-ended, they can be used to suit the convenience of local authorities and the police where they perceive a member of the public to be ‘difficult’. This shows that the powers are not serving victims of offences – or those trying to report offences – but the convenience of officialdom.
Here is a summary of her case…
Since 2019, the woman says she has faced sustained stalking and harassment from a neighbour. This ranged from being followed with her children in the car, to property damage to her home and car, online monitoring of her social media, loitering outside her house and childcare providers, to false reports made to her employers, regulators and social services.
The lady had previously worked for both the police and the council, and so knew the procedures to follow to report incidents. But rather than investigate and act on her reports, these authorities instead issued her with a legal gagging order.
In spring 2025, Cornwall Council and Devon & Cornwall Police jointly issued her with a Community Protection Warning Letter (CPWL) and an Anti-Social Behaviour Warning. The documents accused her of being ‘unreasonable’ and ‘causing nuisance’ by contacting agencies too often. She then received another CPWL in June.
The woman asked for a Subject Access Request about the evidence against her, but no evidence was disclosed, and no investigation was conducted.
The letters effectively banned her from contacting the police or council about her stalker unless she could provide ‘corroborating evidence’. The police and council would not accept her own CCTV footage or take a witness statement from anyone who knew her, citing that all evidence had to be independent. The order even told her not to dial 999 unless in ‘immediate and imminent danger’.
Some of the incidents were witnessed by respected professionals — including a circuit judge — yet the police never got back to him about taking a statement.
A ‘warning letter’ has no statutory authority; it is only a precursor to a formal notice. Yet the council and police treated it as binding, imposing restrictions that would normally require a court order.
The woman described the effect these incidents have had on her life:
This has broken me. I have dark days where I doubt myself and my own sanity, wondering if I am a fit mother. My stalker’s referral of me to social services was the worst; he told them to get medical advice from my GP, making out I did not have capacity to look after my children. The council and police wouldn’t accept any of the sophisticated CCTV system that my parents paid to have installed at my house, but then they kept telling me I needed independent evidence. What other evidence could I get? They changed to goalposts to suit them, playing games with my family and my safety. The ASB officer who gave me the warnings has boasted on her social media about the number she has handed out.