Ipswich: Alcoholic Daniel Palmer jailed for 40th breach of his Asbo

An alcoholic who has breached his anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) 40 times has been jailed for 28 weeks.

Daniel Palmer was given an Asbo in 2007 banning him from being found drunk in a public place and in the intervening years he has regularly breached the order, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Jailing Palmer for the latest two breaches of the order Recorder Heather Rogers said Palmer had a significant problem with alcohol and described his case as “very sad.”

She said that over the last seven years courts had tried to help him by passing community orders on five occasions which required him to attend alcohol treatment programmes. However Palmer had repeatedly breached the orders and had ended up back in prison.

Palmer, who has lived in the Ipswich area but has no fixed address, admitted two breaches of his Asbo on January 4 and January 6.

Joanathan Taylor, prosecuting said on the first occasion Palmer had been found asleep in a toilet block in Alexandra Park, Ipswich by park rangers. He had been sick and appeared drunk and refused to leave the park when asked to do so by the rangers.

He had become aggressive and threatened to slit the throat of one of the rangers but shortly afterwards apologised and said he didn’t have a knife.

Police were called and Palmer was arrested.

Two days later he was found in a telephone box in Tower Street, Ipswich at 9.45am and appeared to be drunk. A breath test showed he was nearly three times the drink drive limit and he was arrested for being drunk in a public place.

Guy Ayers for Palmer said that as his client was an alcoholic it was hardly surprising that he kept breaching the Asbo by getting drunk.

He said Palmer had a chronic addiction to alcohol and despite efforts by the courts to help him he had been unable to stop drinking.

Mr Ayers said Palmer was determined to break the cycle of offending.

He also urged the court to defer sentence for several months to see if he was as good as his word.