Persistent Beggar Jailed Six Times for Defiance of Court Order

30/05/2017


Court orders must be obeyed and judges are relentless in ensuring that they are. In one case that proved the point, a persistent beggar who simply refused to stop pestering people for money was sent to prison no fewer than six times.

Addicted to crack cocaine, the man had been ordered to desist from begging and to stay away from certain areas where he generally operated. In a period of less than two years, he had admitted more than 100 breaches of that order and had been repeatedly committed to prison for his contempt of court.

The local council had offered him accommodation, financial assistance and help in beating his addiction. However, he had turned all such offers away and swiftly returned to begging each time that he was released from prison. Sentences ranging from six weeks to six months had done nothing to deter him.

Jailing for him a further six months for his latest list of 29 admitted breaches, a judge warned him that his liberty would continue to be at risk for as long as he refused to comply with the order. The judge noted that he could only hope that a further experience of prison would encourage his obedience.

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