Manchester beggar banned from city centre

Thursday, 21 August 2003 12:00 AM

A court in Manchester has banned a local homeless man from begging in the city centre, threatening him with a jail term if he breaks the court order.

Leonard Hockey, who says he begs in order to raise money for a drug habit which costs him £22,00 a year, was ordered to stay away from Manchester city centre or face up to two years in prison if he is caught begging again.

Local police say that Mr Hockey has been arrested 97 times.

Manchester City Council and Greater Manchester Police took out a civil action against Mr Hockey. They were prevented from seeking an anti-social behaviour order as Mr Hockey's conduct was judged not to be violent or intimidating.

Manchester police officer Inspector Paul Thorpe told the BBC today that Mr Hockey and other beggars in the city should take steps to access local drug treatment programmes.

"Beggars will think about the punishment that is likely to be imposed on them. Once they start thinking about that, my hope is that they will access the treatment that is readily available in this city."

"Once they do that the impact on the city will be tremendous; the fear the and the intimidation and anger that people feel about beggars on the streets will go away," he added.

Manchester City Council has argued that over 90% of the money given to beggars by members of the public goes directly to fund drug habits.

Leonard Hockey's solicitor Ben Taylor stated today that his client intended to appeal against the ruling.

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