To say it's time we stopped being soft on drunken yobs.

[seaviewer]

I just wonder how long we're going to allow drunken yobs to tie up police resources, ambulance crews and hospital casualty departments. Why can't the government listen to police chiefs and toughen up. I don't know the answer, some police chiefs have said we should have drunk tanks. Whatever happens SOMETHING should be done.

Town centers at weekends are now often like the Wild West a no go area with people who just can't handle their drink, they cost the country fortunes. I just don't understand why it's being allowed to continue. What do you all think?

My comment wasn't sarcastic. Just highlighting that you joined us all in being ignorant until it's affected you.

Not read the whole thread but, I don't think there's a problem OP. Maybe there is. Have you witnessed it or have you read about this in the Daily Mail??

Okay, so some people have made themselves need medical attention due to excessive alcohol consumption and are in A&E, please explain how it is judged who is charged, who does this assessment, how this is recorded and how these charges/fines are collected.

I don't think we should fine people. We should address it from the other direction, and reduce the number of people to whom help is offered.

Raise the bar at which intervention takes place.

Stop scooping unconscious people off the street, those who are staggering around, or have lost their shoes, those with non-life threatening injuries. Leave them to it.

Yes, a few of them may come to more significant harm (probably at the hands of other drunk people), but in the longer term, it will act as a deterrent to others.

Yes, it's brutal,came I don't really advocate it - for a start, I don't believe many of the emergency services personnel would actually do it.

But, I can't see any other way of re-instilling a sense of personal responsibility into society. We've come to expect that level of intervention, so absolve ourselves of more and more risky and extreme behaviour.

sea let's say on Friday and Saturday nights in city centres around the UK there are drunks causing trouble. Or going home and causing trouble.
And maybe it's worse than 20 years ago when I was out on a Friday regularly.
As to what can be done? Is there merit in arresting and convicting people left, right and centre for being drunk and unpleasant? Yes if they've assaulted someone that's different (difficult when everyone's drunk to get witnesses) but for the most part the police don't have the resources to lock everyone up, keep them safe etc.
I don't think anyone has an affordable, practical solution to people getting drunk.

Rather insulting comment but also very insulting to all our police, nurses and ambulance staff who are on the front line and who would probably agree with every word I say

I am a nurse. DP is a paramedic. We categorically do not agree with you OP.

Please do not insult us by assuming that we do.

www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/help-and-advice/statistics-on-alcohol/

Alcohol-related crime in the UK is estimated to cost between £8bn and £13bn per year

A fifth (29%) of all violent incidents in 2013–14 took place in or around a pub or club. This rises to 42% for stranger violence. Over two thirds
(68%) of violent offences occur in the evening or at night

There were 8,270 casualties of drink driving accidents in the UK in 2013, including 240 fatalities and 1,100 people who suffered serious injury

Victims believed the offender(s) to be under the influence of alcohol in over half (53%) of all violent incidents, or 704,000 offences

Ban the stuff!

seaviewer
The problem I have with your solution is that innocent people get caught up in it.

The lets throw all the violent drunks in the drunk tank won't take in to account those that defend themselves against being attacked.

The police won't have time to sort out who started what and the courts are no guarantee of justice.

Whiskey no I said it's always angered me, obviously more now it's come to the surface. But are you really ignorant of it all?
paxillin maybe the young do drink less than their parents, the parents didn't used to fill A&E with violent behaviour.
Blanche well the police of course, as they do now?
Thenaze you don't think there's a problem? there's been countless documentaries about it, please don't ever go in town when the clubs throw them out, I think you'd change your mind.
giddy the problem isn't with people getting drunk. No problem with drunks harming no one at all.....But we should never stand back wringing our hands and do nothing simply because we don't know how to fix it.

I agree, seeing Emergency service programmes, it is amazing and disgraceful how much time and resources are wasted on such people.

I agree we have a huge problem with alcohol in this country. It is cultural though and needs to be tackled at cause rather than only symptoms. What is the answer? I really don't know, but here must be lessons we can learn from other countries. It isn't like this anywhere else is it?

Boney I don't believe that is so at all. I've seen many programmes on TV and the police can usually very quickly find out who is causing all the trouble. A few quick words with the onlookers lets them know quickly what's going on. It's rather like saying lets have no prisons because we might just lock someone up who shouldn't be there. We'd never make progress if we always thought "but what if" would we. As for courts being no guarantee of justice? but we have them now, should we do away with courts and have no justice. There'd be anarchy wouldn't there?

Well what do you suggest?
If we don't know how to fix it wouldn't we just be throwing more money and resources at it endlessly in the hope something eventually works?
Standing round saying "Somebody must do something" is not constructive.

I imagine if the OPs son was found unconscious in vomit on a stag night or similar, she would be equally raging if the paramedics just ignored him because he was drunk. I am sure he wouldn't be a "drunken yob."

Of course not...

Swill so much that you need hospital - pay £200 unless you were spiked or an alcoholic.

Get a life, if you cant have fun without getting hammered you are a saddo. Take some responsibility.

There's so many people who say, we can't do this, we can't do that, but they themselves can't think of anything we can do. Then of course there are the deluded who don't think there is a problem or perhaps aren't interested because it doesn't affect them. I'd say to any of them, go into an A&E anywhere in the country late on a Saturday night and you'd have a glimpse of hell. You'd soon change your mind.

There's a gulf between police 'knowing' what's happened and the CPS agreeing to prosecute though.

special Would you extend that fine to people who eat so much that they need hospital?

bluebeck for goodness sake, how many times.....I am not talking about people in general getting drunk, I'm talking about mindless yobs who can't have a night out without causing mayhem to other people, to the police, paramedics, hospital. There might be a day when your son is lying unconscious in a gutter and no one would come to him because there wouldn't even be an NHS. But tell me, you seem to have an issue with the term "drunken yob " hence the punctuation marks. What would you call them, or perhaps you have sons who act that way themselves.

NNchangeagain- I agree with everything you have said, will never ever happen though. The blame culture which is all pervasive in this country would put a stop to it. The first person who died/was injured who was seen by police or paramedics and not helped....those people would be losing their jobs.

Those newspaper headlines would write themselves

seaviewer
I've seen many programmes on TV and the police can usually very quickly find out who is causing all the trouble

And judge rinder and judy are exactly what goes on in a court room.

And feel free to extend what I post to ridiculous levels, its always worth a chuckle.

We'd never make progress if we always thought "but what if" would we.
strangely enough that is what our judicial system is based on, beyond reasonable doubt,

Boney you really are cynical aren't you. Tell me, what would you do, allow it to continue?

seaviewer you ARE talking about people in general getting drunk. How on earth do you know who has got drunk for the first time in thirty years, and who gets shitfaced every night? How would you, in your perfect fantasy world, differentiate between cases on the spot?

You have appointed yourself judge and jury.

No, I don't have a son who behaves like that, he is too young. You sound unhinged to be frank.

My friend works in a restaurant kitchen and often is on shift til 2am, if she's on the close - cleaning kitchen, preparing food for the next day, etc.

In the early stages of her pregnancy she had terrible morning sickness and, on her walk home from work (well lit high street), she vomited in a bin unfortunately for her, this was one of the nights that the Daily Mail photographers were out collecting photos for their biannual Binge Britain photo stories.

She ended up as an inset in a double page spread and on the daily mail website!! I think the caption was something like 'woman reveller throws up in high street bin after overindulging'. She was bloody 16 weeks pregnant!!!

Luckily she found it funny, but if she'd had a different kind of job or family that could have ruined her. So unfair.

I'm blowing it up for her 30th birthday party

TiggyD ban alcohol? Really?
You know what happened when they tried that in the USA, don't you?

sea have you actually got any proper thoughts on 'what' can be done?