A ‘PUBLIC nuisance’ Daventry man has been jailed after he repeatedly ignored a court order banning him from Daventry and Northampton town centres.
At Northampton Crown Court, Thomas Grizzell, 38, of The Slade in Daventry, was sentenced to a total of eight months’ imprisonment after admitting six breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).
The two-year order had been granted at Northampton Magistrates’ Court in May 2022 after an application by Northamptonshire Police and West Northamptonshire Council, as a result of Grizzell’s involvement in repeated incidents of aggressive begging and anti-social behaviour.
His behaviour included sitting outside shops asking for cash and food, stopping drivers in car parks and at drive through restaurants, and targeting lone females including children and older people.
The CBO banned him from asking people for food, money, cigarettes or any other items, from sitting on the ground begging, from having uninvited engagement with people, including approaching cars, and excluded him from Daventry town centre as well as specific areas elsewhere in the town.
As a result, Grizzell then moved on to cause similar issues in Northampton town centre.
This led to a joint police-council application to revise the order, which in May 2023 was extended to cover the whole of the county, with a specific ban on Northampton town centre.
Grizzell subsequently breached the order and was taken back before magistrates last September, receiving a 48-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Despite this, he was seen in both Daventry and Northampton town centres on at least six occasions in October and November.
He was arrested and charged, admitting six counts of breaching a CBO at Northampton Magistrates’ Court in November.
There he was remanded in custody ahead of his crown court sentencing, where he was given concurrent eight-month sentences for each count and told to pay a £187 surcharge.
Speaking afterwards, PC Sean Whelan of Daventry NPT, said: “Thomas Grizzell has been a public nuisance for a very long time and has been responsible for a lot of anti-social behaviour both in Daventry and Northampton.
“Despite the court orders he was under, Grizzell continued with his unacceptable behaviour, and thanks to the support from local communities and businesses in reporting him and making statements about the impact of his behaviour, he has now rightly been jailed.
“It takes a huge amount of work to bring breaches like these before the courts but it is very much worth it for a custodial sentence like this, which I hope will bring welcome relief to those living, working, studying and shopping in the areas Grizzell caused problems in.
“I am very grateful to all those who helped us secure this result and I hope this case demonstrates that we both listen to and act on the vital information our communities give to us.”
