'Police need much stronger powers' - new crime bill could include Ben's Law, MP tells minister
A forthcoming Act of Parliament could be strengthened to include a blanket ban on street racing and car cruising, an MP has suggested in the Commons.
Labour MP Jo White suggested the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill could be amended to include an outright ban on national ban on street racing and car cruising, similar to that proposed in the Express & Star's Ben's Law campaign.
She asked Home Office minister Diana Johnson for a private meeting to discuss the matter.
More than 1,000 people have signed our petition calling for Ben's Law, in memory of 19-year-old Ben Corfield and 16-year-old Liberty Charris, since its launch last week. The petition, which can be signed on https://chng.it/SxpmYB8gZJ , follows a call from Ben's father Damian, a senior member of Dudley Council. It has been backed by MPs Warinder Juss and Sarah Coombes, as well as police and crime commissioner Simon Foster.
Ben and Liberty died in November 2022 after 54-year-old Dhiya Al-Maamoury lost control of his high-powered Nissan Skyline and drove into a crowd of pedestrians. He was jailed for 13-and-a-half years in November last year, after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Teenagers Ebonie Parkes and Ethan Kilburn were also seriously injured.
Miss White said police and local council leaders were already working hard to crack down on the menace of street racers who were putting lives at risk, but said officers needed more powers.
"I think the law needs to be strengthened to give the police much stronger powers to deal with the problem," she told MPs.
"It is not a local phenomenon, because it is happening right across the country and people are using encrypted social media to organise the groups."
Miss White, who represents Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, said the local authority had joined forces with neighbouring Rotherham to impose a public space protection order covering the A57.
She said warning letters were sent out to the registered keepers of cars seen at events, which in many cases were the parents of those attending.
Wolverhampton North East MP Sureena Brackenridge asked whether 'respect orders', which formed part of the Crime and Policing Bill, could be used to deal with the gatherings.
Miss White suggested that the Bill could be strengthened to include an outright ban.
"This is a nationwide problem, and I ask the minister for a private discussion to consider whether the Bill can be strengthened to make it criminal to organise, promote or attend an unofficial road-racing event."
The forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill proposes a number of measures to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, including the Ronan's Law measures, in memory of Wolverhampton teenager Ronan Khanda, which are aimed at preventing knife crime. It is recently passed its third reading in the Commons and is now set to go through the House of Lords.
