Nottingham City Council Prosecute Beggars

A persistent beggar frequently seen on the streets of Nottingham has been jailed for nine months after breaching an earlier order to curb his behaviour.

Peter James Biggins, aged 32, of Framework Housing, London Road, Nottingham, was sentenced on Thursday 14 January at Nottingham Magistrates Court, to nine months’ imprisonment for numerous breaches of his Anti-Social Behaviour Order, vagrancy offences, outraging public decency and other offences contrary to the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Councillor Jon Collins, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “This is a good result for the Community Protection teams who have worked hard to tackle the issue of begging and antisocial behaviour in our city.

“The majority of beggars are not rough sleepers, and come to Nottingham because they see it as a lucrative way to make a living or fund their habits by relying on the good nature of Nottingham citizens. However other opinion is against the Council and commentators are unhappy in that ALL beggars could be targeted and the council is fuelling prejudice that could promote attacks on lone sleepers. 

England’s homelessness crisis is continuing to grow with new data showing a 33% rise since 2010 in people accepted as homeless by councils, putting further pressure on the government to act.

A Shelter analysis using the latest official data showed a 6% year-on-year rise in the total number of households accepted as homeless during 2015, including an 8% rise in homeless households with dependant children.

The loss of a tenancy remained the biggest cause of homelessness in 2015, including 17,000 households given emergency accommodation by their council after being evicted from a privately rented home.

Shelter said the 56,600 people accepted as homeless by councils in 2015 was 33% higher than in 2010.