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Criminal Behaviour Order bans petty thief from using coin-operated machines for five years (1 May 2015)
Date: 01/05/2015
Bury Magistrates has issued a Criminal Behaviour Order to a petty thief caught raiding a parking meter at Fairfield Hospital.
Under the Criminal Behaviour Order, unemployed Russell Stansfield, 38, from Derker near Oldham, has been banned from using or touching any coin-operated machine in UK – including vending machines, pay phones and ticket machines.
The Daily Mail reports that the case is thought to be the first of its kind – although Stansfield has a long record of theft. Police say Stansfield’s previous convictions include targeting parking meters at Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester airports – and he has also committed similar crimes in Preston, Cheshire and Birmingham.
He has also been banned from visiting the Trafford Centre in Manchester and its car park – and is banned from airports and airport care parks unless he can prove that he is flying from the airport.
He was arrested after being caught stealing £40 in coins from parking meters at Fairfield Hospital on 4 August and 7 August 2014.
Under the CBO, the ban will remain in place until February 2020.
After the hearing Stansfield said:
“It's just weird, if I'm honest – there are so many things I can't do.
“If I'm at the hospital for hours for example, I can't buy any food from the machines.
“I am sorry for what I did,” he added. “It was a means of survival.
“In Oldham, there's not a lot going for a lad like me – I was desperate. I was going through a tough time.”
The order also bans Stansfield from using pay phones unless he is calling the emergency services – and if he wishes to Manchester's Metrolink, under the CBO he must buy a ticket and move away from the machine.
PC Richard Garland of Bury Police said:
“We were keen to bring in the order because of the stress Stansfield has caused to people who have arrived at hospitals and airports, tried to pay to pay for their parking and have been unable to – and therefore risked missing flights or being stressed while visiting family in hospital.”
Glynis Jones – a security management specialist for The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Fairfield Hospital – added:
“'Since the offences occurred, we have tightened up security in this area –
including increased checks to all the vending machines, to ensure all are in consistent and sustained working order.
“More visible patrols are now being made by our security officers – including across our car parks – and the machines are also monitored by CCTV surveillance cameras.”
Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers
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