1 week Ago
Two women were arrested in Bolton town centre on suspicion of begging . The arrests were made on Tuesday and they were charged with the offence of begging and a criminal behaviour order was submitted to the courts. It comes as part of Operation Yetminster which was launched last year to reduce the number of people begging in Bolton.
Last month, officers announced that arrests could be made as they started a crackdown on begging in the town centre. PC Laura Marshall said: “Two females were arrested for the offence of begging where they have been charged with the offence and bailed to court for officers to submit a criminal behaviour order to the courts.” Officers said that the places most people have raised concerns about is begging on the junction of Turton Street, Kay Street, Topp Way and the A666 next to the Bolton Gate Retail Park.
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uk Sgt Zach Keneally, with the Bolton North Neighbourhood Team, said that all beggars identified will first be given leaflets with contact details for support agencies. If they don’t engage with support agencies then police will first issue “Community Protection Warnings” to tell them that “their conduct must stop”. If they don’t comply with the warning they will be issued a “Community Protection Notice” which provides “requirements they must comply with”.
If they still don’t comply with this then they will be arrested and prosecuted. READ MORE: Man who begs at Bolton junction explains why he does it READ MORE: Hundreds of prosecutions for begging and rough sleeping READ MORE: Bolton Council ask people to give to charity rather than to beggars Officers said last month that since the start of the operation they had recorded a total of 85 begging incidents, committed by 18 different people. Bolton Council said, if you see a rough sleeper, you can email housingoutreachteam@bolton.
gov.uk (in confidence) or call the Housing Options Services on 01204 335900. You can also use www.
streetlink.org.uk to report a rough sleeper to the council.
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