BEGGING LANDS PEOPLE BEFORE COURTS
SIX people have appeared in court for offences including “persistently” begging in a public place across the country in the past six months. They include one 34-year-old man who was fined £200 for breaking a community protection order after he was seen begging in Abergavenny on two occasions.
In a separate incident, a 28-yearold man was handed a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after he was seen begging at a retail park in Brynmawr.
Back in 2018, “aggressive begging” was described as the biggest issue facing businesses in Cardiff city centre. At the time it was announced two police constables would be funded and recruited by business improvement district, FOR Cardiff, to help tackle the issue, as well as other problems.
But the announcement was not welcomed by homelessness charities which criticised the “criminalisation” of the homeless and “already vulnerable people”. Many homeless people have recently returned to the streets despite being offered accommodation during the pandemic.
Speaking at the time, rough sleepers in Cardiff also explained how they felt “tarred by the same brush” as those accused of aggressive begging and believed the issue was being used as an “excuse” to target the homeless.
Here are the details from court cases involving begging heard in magistrates’ courts across Wales:
A 28-year-old man received a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after breaching his criminal behaviour order by begging outside One Stop in King Street Retail Park in Brynmawr on February 7, 2021, and attending Lakeside Retail Park in Nantyglo, which he was also prohibited from doing. The man, from Cardiff, was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £128 and costs of £85.
A 43-year-old man appeared in court after breaching his criminal behaviour order and begging for money outside Lidl in Granville Road, Newport, on June 29, 2021. The defendant, from Newport, received a conditional discharge for 12 months and was ordered to pay a surcharge of £22 and costs of £85. The same defendant had previously been discharged absolutely after breaching the order on April 29, 2021, by begging outside Lidl. On that occasion, the court did not order costs, noting he would “likely offend to beg for the money”.
A 27-year-old man was fined a total of £125 after being spotted sitting on the floor begging in Queen Street in Cardiff on five occasions between June 6 and June 22, 2021, and therefore failing to comply with a community protection notice. He was also ordered to pay a £34 surcharge and costs of £85. Previously, he was fined £120 at a court hearing on May 13 for breaking his community protection order by sitting on the floor in Cardiff on six occasions in March and April and for begging on one occasion. At that time he was also ordered to pay a £34 surcharge and costs of £85.
A 41-year-old appeared in court after an incident on March 10, 2021, at Tesco in Prior Street, Port Talbot. According to the court, he had failed to follow a community protection notice banning him from asking members of the public for money or placing a “receptacle” on the ground to imply begging. The man, from Sandfields, was discharged conditionally for 12 months. No surcharge was imposed due to the “amount of outstanding fines” owed by the defendant.
A 56-year-old woman pleaded guilty to “persistently” begging in a public place after being found in Uplands Crescent “to beg or gather alms” on November 5, November 18 and November 20, 2020, and February 6 and February 19, 2021. The defendant, from Uplands, was discharged conditionally for two years and made the subject of a criminal behaviour order banning her from sitting “on the ground for more than five minutes” in any public place where there are shops and licenced premises and asking members of the public for money. She was also ordered to pay a £22 surcharge and costs of £85.
A 34-year-old man appeared in court after breaching a criminal behaviour order by begging in Cross Street in Abergavenny on July 5, 2021, and in High Street on July 6. The defendant, from Llantilio Pertholey, was given a community order and ordered to comply with a drug rehabilitation requirement. He must also pay a £40 fine and was ordered to pay a surcharge of £95. The man was previously fined £100 for failing to comply with a community protection notice and begging on Abergavenny High Street on April 27, 2021, as well as being ordered to pay a surcharge of £34 and made the subject of a criminal behaviour order prohibiting him from begging from any person “or placing any item on the floor before you for the purpose of begging” in a number of streets in the town. He was fined a further £100 for begging on Abergavenny High Street on March 6, 2021.