Conservative PCC Candidate Festus Akinbusoye welcomes new Criminal Justice Bill

Home Secretary Priti Patel is set to announce new legislation that will make it a criminal offence to intentionally set up a camp or trespass on private land. The Conservative PCC Candidate welcomes this. The legislation will give police the power to fine those who break the law up to £2,500 and lays out the possibility of a three-month prison sentence. Currently, landowners face legal battles and court costs to evict travellers from their sites because trespass is only a civil offence. Festus Akinbusoye, Bedfordshire’s Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner candidate welcomed the news, saying, “There’s been a long-standing review into how to deal with the issue of illegal encampments and trespassing in England and Wales. This is a matter of real concern here in Bedfordshire,” he said. “We’re now coming in line with the Republic of Ireland, which introduced the same law back in 2002. This is the fulfilment of a manifesto commitment and I’m fully behind the government's strong a