Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/05/05/trouser_ruling/

Judge de-ASBOes yoof's low-slung kecks

Hoodie's human right to expose underwear

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 5th May 2010 08:29 GMT

An 18-year-old Bedford yoof has secured what appears to be a landmark legal victory for those who prefer their trousers at half-mast, the Times reports.

Ellis Drummond was facing an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) "prohibiting him from using threatening behaviour, begging or entering the grounds of Bedford College", following convictions for "assault, possession of Class B drugs and theft".

The order also sought to prevent Drummond “wearing trousers so low beneath the waistline that members of the public are able to see his underwear” and appearing in public wearing any apparel “with the hood up”.

However, when the ne'er-do-well was hauled before Bedford Magistrates’ Court on 27 April, District Judge Nicholas Leigh-Smith declared that the last two requirements "struck me as contrary to the Human Rights Act".

Accordingly, Drummond may now continue with his kecks approaching his ankles, although not around Bedford College during the four-year life of the ASBO.

Alex Deane, big cheese down at civil liberties outfit Big Brother Watch, suggested to the Times: “The proper punishment for the comically low-riding trousers favoured by some people is that we all think they look like idiots.”

You can judge for yourselves just how much of an idiot Drummond resembles right here. ®