Call to ban anti-teen device

Campaigners are calling for a ban on a device used to disperse rowdy and intimidating gangs of youths.They say it "demonises" children and that it is not a fair, but a "negative" way to treat and deal with them.

The gadget, known as the Mosquito, emits a high-pitched sound which only under-25s can hear.

Around 3,500 of these ultrasonic devices are being used by councils and police forces across the country to tackle anti-social behaviour.

But Professor Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, the Children's Commissioner for England, believes they should be scrapped on the grounds that they infringe the rights of young people.

He said he had spoken to many young people who had been "deeply affected" by the deterrents, and is spearheading a campaign called Buzz Off, calling for a ban.

And he argued that such an approach was "not addressing the root cause" of anti-social behaviour.

"These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people, including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving," he said.

"The use of measures such as these are simply demonising children and young people, creating a dangerous and widening divide between the young and the old."

The campaign is also being backed by other groups, including civil liberties campaigners.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: 'These untested, unregulated devices are at best a dog whistle and at worst a sonic weapon directed against children and young people.

"They have no place in a civilised society," she added.

The device's inventor, Howard Stapleton, a father from from South Wales, said he accepted the vast majority of young people were law-abiding, but added the gadget had proven to be effective in combating "lawlessness" on the streets.

Mr Stapleton said a test case in the courts might be the only way of establishing the Mosquito's legality.

He added: "People talk about infringing human rights but what about the human rights of the shopkeeper who is seeing his business collapse because groups of unruly teenagers are driving away his customers?"

By Sunita Patel