Persistent beggar, formerly of March and Wisbech, jailed after breaching anti-social behaviour injunction

A persistent beggar has been handed a jail sentence after breaching an anti-social behaviour injunction.

Michael Bloy, 39, who has previously lived at addresses in Wisbech and March, was arrested in Cambridge city centre on Tuesday and taken to Parkside Police Station before being transferred to HMP Peterborough to begin a 42-day prison sentence.

The sentence had been handed down in January at a court date Bloy did not attend. Police say Bloy was, however, aware of the sentence and fled to Peterborough before heading to Cambridge.

The original injunction against Bloy was imposed in September 2023 and banned him from begging, urinating, rough sleeping and being aggressive in public spaces and engaging in violent or threatening behaviour anywhere in Fenland.

It also banned him from loitering or begging at any cash point, service station or supermarket/convenience store across the district.

In March 2024, Bloy was found guilty of breaching the injunction and sentenced to a six-week prison sentence, suspended for the duration of the injunction, which was extended until March 2026.

However, he continued to breach the injunction, with police saying they received reports of him begging outside shops and a church, urinating against a house and rough sleeping on shop steps and in communal areas of a block of flats.

On January 13 this year, Bloy was found guilty in his absence at Peterborough County Court and the suspended prison sentence was activated following evidence of the further breaches committed between April and September 2024. Bloy was sentenced to 42 days in custody, and a warrant was issued for his immediate arrest.