Serial offender barred from large parts of Sunderland until 2025 after breaching original exclusion order

Robert Friendship Smith has been arrested 59 times and racked up 25 criminal convictions since 2007.

His offending – which has included assault, criminal damage, arson and theft – resulted in him receiving a three-year legal ban from five areas across the north of Sunderland in December 2017.

Warned that he would be arrested if he entered the exclusion zone, Smith was jailed in November last year for 12 weeks after he admitted breaching the Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) just weeks before it was due to expire.

Now that he is free again, Northumbria Police have secured a four-year civil injunction banning him from setting foot in specific areas of the city – including Castletown, Hylton Castle, Town End Farm, Red House and Downhill – until 2025.

The order also prohibits him from causing a nuisance or annoyance, harassment, alarm or distress to any member of the public in the entire force area and from using abusive, insulting, threatening or intimidating language or behaviour.

Should Smith breach the terms of the injunction, which was issued at North Shields County Court earlier this month, he faces the possibility of a significant spell behind bars.

Inspector Don Wade, of Northumbria Police, said: “Smith has caused fear to our communities and has been a drain on police resources for well over a decade.

“The majority of his offending has taken place in the Castletown, Hylton Castle, Town End Farm, Redhouse and Downhill areas of Sunderland.

“His violent criminal reputation precedes him and he has used that reputation to commit multiple offences within a very small geographic area.

“Smith has shown a constant disregard for the law and his behaviour has had an intimidating impact on our communities, with many of his victims aware of his history of violent crime.

“This injunction is an effective way to manage and deal with Smith’s criminality, banning him from areas of the city where he has predominantly committed offences and antisocial behaviour.

“Should he ignore these strict conditions and breach the injunction, he will be re-arrested and the courts will have greater powers in which to sentence him.

“I would like to thank our communities for their ongoing support and would ask anybody who sees Smith in the above locations where he is banned to contact police immediately.”

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness added: “Without a doubt this will be welcome news for the people of Sunderland.

“You can’t carry on like this causing harm, misery and damage to entire communities and get away with it.

“Northumbria Police won’t stand for a repeat of any of this behaviour and will rightly take firm action if needed, which I hope helps reassure the many people whose lives he has blighted over the years.”

Smith, 23, formerly of Hylton Castle, was jailed in November at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court after he admitted breaching the CBO three times by making separate visits to Red House, Downhill and Town End Farm between May and November.

The new injunction runs until February 4, 2025.

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