Banned beggar 'breached order'

It is illegal to beg

A man who was banned from begging on the streets of Bristol has been arrested for flouting the ruling just days later.

Daniel Hill says he can make up to £80 a day begging.

Bristol City Council obtained an injunction banning him from begging after he was arrested on several occasions.

Mr Hill is the first beggar in the UK to be served with an injunction of this type.

'Moved on'

A hearing has been set for next Friday at the city's crown court where police will give evidence against the 23-year-old.

Helen Parks of Bristol City Council's streetwise campaign said: "We are currently preparing a case against Daniel Hill who has broken an injunction passed by the courts.

"The vagrancy act makes it illegal to beg but we see the injunction as a last resort.

"He was moved on on several occasions before being arrested and making several court appearances.

'Not honest'

"What we're trying to do with our streetwise campaign is to get people to give money in other ways - supporting charities for instance.

"When we went out on the streets we discovered that 99.9% of the beggars in Bristol were on drugs.

"But over 90% of them have an address and are therefore entitled to receive benefits.

"They are not being honest - if they said to people, 'give us money for drugs', would they still give?

"They all admit it can be a lucrative business - some nights we have empty beds in our hostels, because the people are out on the streets begging."