A PERSISTENT offender who caused a disturbance outside Worcester Magistrates Court last month found himself in front of a district judge in the same court last week.

Carl Bainbridge, aged 34, of no fixed abode, appeared in court on Thursday, October 3, and pleaded guilty to one count of threatening behaviour.

The charge arose out of an incident which took place on Thursday, September 12.

District judge Ian Strongman heard that Bainbridge had been found lying on the pavement outside the court in Castle Street by magistrates court security staff.

He was causing a disturbance, and shouting that he wanted to get arrested.

When he refused to leave the area, the security staff summoned police officers from the police station, which is part of the same building, and the officers arrested him.

The court was told that Bainbridge had 80 previous convictions on his record, the most recent being on August 17 this year for an offence of being drunk and disorderly.

Paul Stanley, representing Bainbridge, said that he was a long-standing street drinker in and around the city, and that PC Potter, the officer who arrested him, is well-known to him.

“He can’t remember what actually happened during this incident, but he accepts the police officer’s account of the events.

“He was resident in St Paul’s Hostel in Tallow Hill, but that has now come to an end, and he is currently living in a tent close to the cathedral.”

Bainbridge was fined £100 for the offence, with the day he spent in the police cells after being arrested counting as a sentence served.

No separate order was given for costs or payment of a victim surcharge.