A PERSISTENT beggar resorted to theft to fund his heroin habit after an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) had banned him from begging, a court heard.

Jeffrey Ward, 28, who admitted stealing a Playstation 2 console worth £200 from Bootham Park Hospital and five packs of bacon from Jacksons store in Fulford, was jailed for six weeks.

Solicitor Craig Sutcliffe told York magistrates that his client, a schizophrenic, had always been proud that he had funded his heroin habit through begging and only very rarely by stealing.

But now he was forbidden to beg by the ASBO, he had resorted to theft.

He said Ward was not considered so dangerously ill that he could be sectioned, but the criminal law could only provide a blunt tool to deal with him.

Ward was given the ASBO banning him from begging in March, and was subsequently jailed after police found him begging at York Station less than 48 hours later. Last month he was behind bars again, after begging on the pavement near Bootham Bar.

Two beggars approached the Evening Press in April to warn that they might be forced to turn to more serious crimes if they were not able to beg. But police said a small number of beggars were affecting quality of life, and also had an impact on tourism.

Alison Newbould, Safer York Partnership's antisocial behaviour coordinator for the city centre, said today that just because Ward had been banned from begging, it was no excuse for him to turn to theft.

Updated: 10:46 Tuesday, June 29, 2004