Man, 38, jailed after repeatedly ignoring court order banning him from Northampton and Daventry town centres

A man has been jailed after he repeatedly ignored a court order banning him from Daventry and Northampton town centres.

Thomas Grizzell, of The Slade, Daventry, appeared before Northampton Crown Court on December 15, 2023, 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”.

The 38-year-old’s 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 in September 2023, 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 2023.

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.”

Grizzell was sentenced to a total of eight months’ imprisonment and told to pay a £187 surcharge.