PSPOs And The Perils Of Begging

A woman has been jailed for six months after she was caught begging for 50p.

Marie Baker, described as ‘fragile and vulnerable’, was locked up despite the District Judge, Philip Mackenzie, being upset she didn’t have a lawyer in court. Instead she somehow ended up representing herself in the civil case even though she was apparently unable to read or write, according to a report in The Metro.

By persistently begging, Ms Baker had contravened the local Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs). The Government gave councils the power to create PSPOs in 2014, but they allow local authorities to criminalise non-criminal behaviour if they believe it is having a detrimental effect on residents. Breaching an order brings a fine – or a criminal conviction if you don’t (or can’t) pay up.

Judge Mackenzie told Worcester county court in February: “I am disturbed and concerned that Ms Baker attends before me today without the assistance of any public funding or a solicitor. I am particularly concerned about that because, on any view, Ms Baker is […] a fragile and vulnerable individual and that makes it all the more regrettable that she has not got legal assistance.’

The judge even went as far as to accuse the legal system of conspiring against Ms Baker. Despite his outrage, he still ended up giving her a custodial sentence because he wanted to deter her from begging in Worcester after she contravened an existing anti-social behaviour civil injunction against her. She had tried to argue CCTV would prove it was a case of mistaken identity and she had only been prosecuted because a police officer had a grudge against her.

The judge added: “I have reached the conclusion that she can have a fair hearing and that every opportunity has been afforded to her to prepare a case with assistance from a solicitor, but through no fault of her own she has not been able to secure that.” He stressed he had been reluctant to send her to prison.

PSPOs have been criticised for being far too widely drawn, with vague definitions of what can be banned and disproportionate punishments. More than 40 councils across England and Wales have used PSPOs to punish homelessness. Some have banned lying down, loitering or sitting with a receptacle in public. Others have been more upfront and banned begging outright.