Man jailed for 30 weeks after breaching injunction

The injunction banned him from begging and entering parts of Loughborough town centre.

Charnwood Borough Council secured the conviction against Terry Spencer, 53, of Lovett Court, Sileby after the injunction was breached over 90 times.

At Leicester County Court, Spencer admitted to entering the town centre and breaching the injunction between December 2017 and April 2019.

The Council secured the injunction in December 2016 which banned Spencer and other individuals from entering Loughborough town centre and from engaging or threatening to engage in conduct which could cause harassment, alarm or distress in the town centre. The Council took out the injunction in the interests of public safety following a number of incidents of anti-social behaviour linked to drug-taking and drug paraphernalia being left in public places and begging.

Spencer was previously jailed for four weeks in July 2017 and again in October 2017 for six weeks for breaching the injunction.

Spencer, who has 97 previous convictions, told the court he was sorry for the breaches.

After the hearing, Cllr Deborah Taylor, the Council’s lead member for communities, said: “We have a duty to ensure members of the public feel safe and protected when visiting the town centre. The Council took this injunction out to prevent repeated anti-social behaviour in the town.

“Mr Spencer has breached the conditions of the injunction on many occasions and therefore the only option was to once again pursue this in court.

“The injunction remains in place and we will continue to work with our partners including the police to take action when appropriate.”