A man who has been banned from large areas of Lowestoft and Norwich for persistent begging has been jailed once more.

Carl Horth, 31, of no fixed address, was jailed for a number of offences in Ipswich, including aggressive begging and causing distress to members of the public.

He was also convicted of theft from a church and breaching a Community Protection Notice.

Horth appeared at at Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Saturday, February 16, where he was sentenced to 15 weeks imprisonment and was issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order restricting his access to the town centre for three years.

Horth admitted eight offences including abusive and threatening behaviour, with one incident relating to him threatening to stab a woman with a needle used to inject drugs after she found him in a block of flats in Grimwade Street in October.

It follows a nationwide begging ban imposed on the 31-year-old in 2014.

Horth now has more than 100 convictions for more than 200 offences – including the theft of an altar cloth and defecating in a church in October 2018.

In March 2018 Horth was jailed for eight weeks and was ordered to pay £115 in compensation for persistently begging in Norwich.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching his ASBO, two counts of criminal damage and one count of breaching a Community Protection Notice.

He was also handed a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order, in addition to his indefinite ASBO, which stated he must not enter a large number of areas in Norwich unless attending a pre-arranged appointment.

In 2014 Horth, then of Denmark Road in Lowestoft, appeared at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court court for breaching an ASBO banning him from begging in the town. Back then he was sent to prison for 16 weeks after he flouted the order which had been imposed on him the day before.

After his latest sentencing, Sgt Vicky McParland, of Ipswich Central Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: 'Carl Horth is a persistent beggar and has been a menace to those who live and work in Ipswich, along with visitors to the town.

'In addition to pestering people for money, he often forces his way into communal areas of buildings, leaving behind rubbish and is also known to both urinate and defecate in them.

'His aggressive and threatening behaviour has upset many people and he has refused to comply with a Community Protection Notice issued to him in October last year.

'In light of his continued offending, we were left with no option but to apply for magistrates to impose the Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from the town centre.

'This will enable us to deal with him swiftly should he breach the order after he is released from prison.'