Jail term as repeat offender is caught

An ASBO menace embarked on a drink-fuelled crime spree just weeks after a judge gave him a final chance to stay out of jail.

Paul Hindle, 36, stole from his landlord, drove without lights on and resisted arrest when police caught up with him.

A chronic alcoholic, Hindle, pictured, had been slapped with numerous ASBOs in the past and the latest prohibition prevented him from drinking alcohol in public.

In July, judge Stephen Ashurst gave the troubled Scarborough man one last chance to keep his freedom by deferring sentence after Hindle admitted harassing his sister’s partner by sending him abusive texts.

But Hindle blew it, twice getting booked for driving while disqualified - on one occasion for a car trip to a pizza shop in his own street.

Hindle, of North Marine Road, appeared at York Crown Court on Monday for deferred sentence on the harassment charge and the subsequent offences, which included two counts of driving while disqualified and without insurance, one count of theft, fraud, breaching his ASBO and resisting a police constable.

Prosecuting barrister Laurie Scott said Hindle had already started reoffending a few days before his harassment conviction in July.

She said that on July 3, he was seen hiding in the front lawn of a B&B in North Marine Road, clutching a carrier bag full of cider cans. Officers were called out and booked him for breaching his ASBO. Hindle told them: “I’ve stitched myself up.”

On August 19, Hindle - who had been banned from driving since 2007 - was stopped by police while driving with no lights on in North Marine Road. He told officers a friend had given him permission to drive his car to the local pizza shop.

Three days later, officers found him driving a Citroen Saxo on Seamer Road, East Ayton, and arrested him again.

A month later, he was in trouble again after stealing a bed and a refrigerator from his new housing-association flat in North Marine Road.

Hindle was jailed for 12 months and given an extra 18-month driving ban.