South Tyneside man keeps liberty after breaching court order to meet friend for a cup of tea
Judge deferred sentence to the same court on Wednesday, November 18, and granted Smith bail on condition he does not breach the CBO and commits no further offences.
A South Tyneside man who breached a court order by entering a town centre three times in a week when ordered to stay out has kept his liberty.
But a judge warned Steven Smith, 43, she will have no choice but take stronger action if he offends again by going back into a defined area of South Shields.
Smith, of Crieff Grove, Brockley Whins, was warned to stay away by the terms of a criminal behaviour order (CBO) issued on Monday, June 23, by the borough’s magistrates’ court.
Put in place for anti-social behaviour matters, it requires him to stay out of an area defined on map, prosecutor Glenda Beck said.
But she revealed he was seen by police in the exclusion zone on Monday, September 14, Saturday, September 19, and again the following day,
Mrs Beck added: “There are a number of conditions to the CBO, one was not to enter South Shields town centre or enter Chichester. He was given a map.
“All the breaches result from him being in South Shields town centre when he shouldn’t have been.”
Smith pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a CBO.
Alastair Naismith, defending, admitted Smith had erred but said it was done without malice and no other offences had been committed.
Mr Naismith added: “In terms of these matters, they are somewhat unfortunate and stem from the wide nature of the CBO.
“On the Monday, he went to pick up a letter about surgery and on the Saturday, he was going to the library.
“On Sunday, he was going to meet up for a cup of tea in Caffé Nero. He didn’t realise that that was in the area.
“There was no disorder, it’s just that he was in the zone. He’s taken significant steps to address the issues that led to the CBO in the first place.
“There’s been no criminal behaviour of any sort in relation to these breaches other than breaching the order.
“He knows he’s in a position where he could end up with a jail sentence.
“My submission is that there hasn’t been an issue that relates to why the order was put in place.
“He hasn’t been drinking, he hasn’t been abusive to members of the public and he hasn’t been stealing, which were the three issues why it was put in place.”
Judge Passfield deferred sentence to the same court on Wednesday, November 18, and granted Smith bail on condition he does not breach the CBO and commits no further offences.
She told him: “You were in the town centre when you shouldn’t have been. You need to check the map, you must know where you’re not allowed to be.
“I don’t want to take all that away but next time I will have to. Being in the town centre is a criminal offence because you are on a court order.
“If you come back again, I will have no choice.”