Man sent to prison for begging

Marcus Etienne, aged 51, of Stafford Grove, was given a criminal behaviour order last August due to his constant begging and anti-social behaviour in Central Milton Keynes.

But last week he was again spotted outside thecentre:MK, where he was approaching members of the public and asking them for their spare change.

He was arrested and appeared in court the following day.

Magistrates sentenced him to 18 weeks’ imprisonment for breaching the criminal behaviour order (CBO).

Etienne is the first person to have been given a CBO in Milton Keynes for antisocial behaviour/begging, say police.

Sergeant Keith Lavery from the MK central neighbourhood team said: “The CBO was originally granted in August 2015 due to Etienne’s continuous begging and antisocial behaviour, mainly in Central Milton Keynes.

He added: “This sentence sends out a strong message to others engaging in the same behaviour that it will not be tolerated and they can expect to be dealt with as robustly.”