Southport man issued with Five-Year Criminal Behaviour Order following arson conviction

We can confirm that a Southport man has been issued with a Five-Year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) following his conviction for arsons at Southport Pier.

Gerrard Doherty, 53, appeared at court last week charged with starting three separate fires on the decking of Southport Pier in December last year and January this year.

Doherty admitted three counts of arson, and was handed an 18-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days, in addition to the CBO.

As part of the CBO, Doherty must not enter Southport Pier; Be in possession of any articles in a public place that may be sued to start a fire; or light any fires in a public place. If he breaches the order - either by doing something prohibited or failing to follow a positive requirement - he can be arrested without a warrant and face up to 5 years in prison or an unlimited fine.

The order is part of work by our new Merseyside Antisocial Behaviour Partnership (MASP), a pan‑Merseyside partnership uniting more than 20 key organisations, including Housing Associations, Local Councils and charities, to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB) across the region.

Chief Superintendent Karl Baldwin chairs the partnership, and said: "The sheer recklessness of starting fires means that such an order needs to be in place as a deterrent to Doherty. The consequences of his actions could have been devastating, like any arson carried out in our communities.

"CBOs and other preventative orders need multi-agency working to be achieved, and are powerful tools in dealing with antisocial behaviour. Such effective joined up working is why the MASP was set up, and we will continue to share information between the agencies, and use all tools available to stop problems from escalating, and tackle anti-social behaviour where you are.

"When the public asks ‘who is responsible for dealing with antisocial behaviour’, we are striving for the answer to be ‘we all are: together' so keep reporting issues to us and we will take action."

More information on how to report ASB can be found here: Report antisocial behaviour | Merseyside Police. Always call 999 if a crime is progress.