Persistent Offenders Banned From Borough


Courts grant ASBOs against two local men

Two persistent offenders have been banned from entering the borough under the terms of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) granted against them, local police say.

The two men - Gerry McDonough and Paul Brown - have been described by police as "regular street drinkers and beggars".

 

Following a hearing at West London Magistrates Court, McDonough is not allowed to enter Hammersmith and Fulham for two years, nor can he drink alcohol in any public place within the M25, apart from on licensed premises. 

 

McDonough previously served a five month prison sentence for breaching an earlier ASBO.

 

Inspector Bill Heasman of Hammersmith and Fulham Police said of McDonough: “He is a persistent street drinker who constantly harasses innocent people and made threats of violence to staff at a support centre who try and help individuals in his position.”

 

A second man, Paul Brown, has also been banned from Hammersmith and Fulham for three years, under the terms of an ASBO granted by Blackfriars Crown Court.

 

Brown is not allowed to sit or stand within five yards of any ATM cash machine within Greater London, unless he has a current cash card in his name, nor can he beg or ask for charitable donations anywhere in Greater London.

 

He is not allowed to possess drugs anywhere in England and Wales, cannot drink alcohol in any public place in Greater London, apart from on licensed premises, and is forbidden from “engaging in any behaviour that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person not of the same household as himself within England and Wales”.

As well as the ASBO, Brown also received a nine month sentence for Actual Bodily Harm, which was suspended for two years.

“The relevant community partners who were affected by their behaviour were updated and can contact police as appropriate,” said Acting Inspector Finbar King of the Shepherd’s Bush Safer Neighbourhoods Team, who was the lead officer on both cases.

 

Neither of the men will be tagged to ensure they do not re-enter the borough, but police say if they are caught breaking any of the conditions of their ASBOs, they will face arrest and be charged.

 

23 August 2008