When home secretary Theresa May recently indicated that anti-social behaviour orders could soon be deemed anti-social by the new government, Obiter put out a request to the profession for first-hand experience of unusual asbos. We received an intriguing response from a prosecutor in the north of England, revealing a fascinating, if slightly worrying, insight into just how exactly asbos are sometimes devised. Our correspondent says: ‘One of the first asbos that we completed at the magistrates’ court quite a few years ago was in the form of a young man being banned from entering an exclusion area centred on the home of a person he had threatened and intimidated. A plan was attached to the order, and the circular exclusion area was drawn accordingly.’ He adds: ‘We actually managed to secure a much larger area than we had expected, because there was only one size of plate in the court’s canteen.’ Exclusion zones hastily drawn out using court crockery; small wonder that the asbo is on its way out.