Man pleads guilty to public order offences against women and girls

A man has been banned from making comments which could alarm or distress after behaving a way which left strangers feeling distressed on four separate occasions.

Paul Coleman, 62, of Millers Road in Waddington, pleaded guilty to four public order offences at a hearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court.

The incidents reported took place in October in the Waddington area. All the offences were completely unprovoked and directed towards women and girls and caused significant distress to the victims.

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On one occasion on 4 October, he was at Cliff Villages Medical Practice in Mere Road, Waddington, when he entered the waiting room and began abusing a person there, using foul language in an unprovoked tirade.

Then, on 10^th October he committed two offences against three different women. In one incident he was at Co-op pharmacy in Waddington when he again began to verbally abuse people there, causing them to fear violence.

That same day, he followed another lady and engaged in conversation which made her extremely uncomfortable and fear for her own safety.

We then received a report that he had approached one of the same ladies above in Bar Lane, Waddington, again entering unwanted inappropriate conversation, just five days later.  

He pleaded guilty to all four offences on 5 December thanks to investigations which have included viewing CCTV footage, enquiries within the local community and victims, and the North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) CCTV department.

He also pleaded guilty to four breaches of a Community Protection Notice which had been issued by NKDC, which stated he must not act in a manner that causes or is likely to cause nuisance, harassment, alarm, or distress to any persons in North Kesteven. This was breached each time he committed a public order offence, something he accepted in court.  

At the hearing, Coleman was given an interim Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) until his next hearing for sentencing on 10 January.

The CBO has the following prohibitions:

• Not to act in a manner that causes or is likely to cause nuisance, harassment, alarm, or distress to any persons in North Kesteven.

A CBO is a criminal order designed to tackle the most serious and persistent anti-social individuals where their behaviour has brought them before a criminal court. The orders mean there are now enforceable conditions around certain behaviours which the suspect has previously displayed.

If the CBO is breached, this is a criminal offence, and a custodial sentence may be enforced. For the most serious offences, this can be up to five years.

Coleman has been released on court bail until his sentencing in January.

We continuously monitor people who have had CBOs issued. We proactively release their image so that members of the community can stay clear of their offending and are more able to report an incident if one occurs.