Blackburn man asks to be sent to jail (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Blackburn man asks to be sent to jail
4:01pm Friday 7th December 2012 in Blackburn
A 21-YEAR-OLD man who unsuccessfully asked magistrates to send him to prison got his wish the following day.
Blackburn magistrates heard the first bench instead of jailing him made him subject to community supervision.
But within hours of his release Christopher Smith was back at his mother’s house in breach of a restraining order.
And this time when he was put back before the court Smith was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison.
Smith, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order which prohibits him from going on Arran Avenue where his mother lives.
He had pleaded guilty to the same offence the previous day and both and was sentenced for both offences. He was also made subject to a restraining order for a further 12 months.
Catherine Allan, defending, said Smith had deliberately breached the order very soon after the magistrates had declined his invitation to jail him.
“He went to his mother asking for money,” said Miss Allan. “She felt intimidated and scared and pleaded with him to leave. This lady had recently been in hospital and was clearly vulnerable.”
Jonathan Taylor, defending, said the only reason Smith had committed the offence was because he had nowhere to live and no money because he had been disqualified from benefits.
