A THIRTY-one-year old man from Newport has been served the first anti-social behaviour injunction in Gwent following the change in legislation in 2014.

An Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction (ASBI) prohibits a person from engaging in housing-related anti-social behaviour.

It has been developed to help councils and housing associations tackle anti-social behaviour in social housing areas.

Newport officers took action following complaints about the behaviour of Willis who would shout racial abuse, threatening to and using violence, committing criminal damage and being aggressive to staff of local businesses and shops in the city centre.

Newport County Court found that Willis had acted in an anti-social manner on the dates and places detailed by officers and an order was necessary to protect the public and prevent the behaviour continuing.

The conditions of the order state that Willis is forbidden from engaging or threatening any person in any way capable of causing nuisance, annoyance, alarm, harassment or distress, from causing or attempting to cause damage to any property or building not belonging to him and from using or threatening to use violence towards any other person in Newport or Gwent.

The order will run until April 23, 2016.

PC Leanne Pole said: "This individual’s anti- social behaviour is having a severe and detrimental effect on the quality of life of residents and businesses in the Pill and Newport city centre area.

"We hope that this order will restrict his behaviour and if Willis continues to act in this way, he will face conviction and a prison sentence."

Anyone that sees Richard Willis acting in any of the above ways or visiting any of the above areas, are asked to call 101 to report him.