Drunk and Disorderly

Watch any police documentary and you'll see people arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Second only to the power of arrest for preventing a breach of the peace, it's a handy tool in the police's arsenal for ridding the streets of troublemakers on a rowdy Saturday night.

Under section 91(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 it is an offence for any person, whilst being drunk in a public place, to behave in a disorderly manner. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine at level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1,000 maximum), with a range of between a conditional discharge and a Band C fine.

Section 91(4) of the Act defines a public place as any highway, premises or other place where the public has access, or is permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise. This means that the offence could just as easily be committed in a nightclub or restaurant as it could be out on the street. The offence could not, however, be committed in a private dwelling (or garden thereto) or non-public parts of a commercial premises.

The terms drunkenness and disorderly behaviour are not specifically defined in the Act. It is for the police officer to determine whether or not a person is drunk and behaving in a disorderly manner.

Case law has set the bar for drunkenness quite low. Any person who has consumed alcohol and lacks their normal degree of self-control can be considered to be drunk. The Act does not apply in the case of a person lacking self-control solely through their use of drugs, but it would apply if they'd washed it down with an alcoholic drink.

Disorderly behaviour might take the form of shouting, swearing, fighting, obstructing the highway or otherwise disturbing other members of the public going about their lawful business.

Being drunk and behaving in a disorderly manner is an absolute offence. There is no requirement for the prosecution to prove that the drunken person intended their behaviour to be disorderly.