'Blight' on Blackburn town centre faces jail (From Lancashire Telegraph)

'Blight' on Blackburn town centre faces jail

1:00pm Sunday 10th March 2013 in News

A 65-YEAR-OLD man said to be ‘a blight’ on Blackburn town centre faces jail if he does not change his behaviour.

Blackburn magistrates heard police are seeking an Anti-social Behaviour Order (Asbo) against Stuart Halsall because of his behaviour in and around the Mall.

The application for a full order, which would ban Halsall from the shopping centre, was adjourned so he can undergo a mental health assessment.

But he remains subject to an interim Asbo which he has already breached four times in the four weeks since it was made.

Peter Wild, prosecuting, told Blackburn magistrates that as well as the breaches of the interim order Halsall had been arrested six times in recent months for being drunk and disorderly.

“A feature of all the incidents involving this man seems to be the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol,” said Mr Wild.

“He uses foul and abusive language, spits at security officers trying to do their job and generally carries on in a disgraceful way in front of shoppers and children.”

Halsall, of Bridge Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to four breaches of the interim order and was remanded on bail for an assessment of his mental state. The court also adjourned the application for a full order so it could be established whether Halsall was capable of understanding the order and the consequences of breaching it. The case will be back before the magistrates on April 26.

Mr Wild said Halsall was already banned from he Mall before the interim Asbo was imposed including that condition. He detailed four occasions when Halsall was ordered to leave and became abusive and aggressive towards security staff. On one occasion he struck a security office and on at least two spat at the Mall employees.

Aftab Bakhat, defending, said Halsall clearly had issues and a mental health assessment would establish the extent of those issues.

“Every time he is interviewed by police he says he understands that he has breached the order,” said Mr Bakhat. “He then wilfully goes back into the Mall and behaves in exactly the same way.”