The woman was described as ‘fragile’ by the judge who jailed her (Picture: Getty)

A ‘vulnerable’ woman was jailed for six months because she begged for 50p – and didn’t have access to a defence lawyer in court.

The woman, named in court documents as Marie Baker, had been handed a civil injunction preventing her from begging in Worcester, but she breached the injunction by asking two people for 50p.

Can I leave Birmingham during lockdown?

This meant the case was taken to Worcester County Court, where District Judge Mackenzie sentenced Baker to six months in prison.

She had to represent herself as she was not able to secure public funds for her lawyer, BuzzFeed News reported.


Sentencing her at the hearing in February, Judge Mackenzie said: ‘I am particularly concerned about that because on any view, Ms Baker is a fragile individual; has difficulty reading and writing; difficulty in understanding, though I have no evidence or indication to indicate to me that she lacks capacity to deal with matters.

The woman had to represent herself in court (Picture: Getty)

‘She is, however, a fragile and vulnerable individual and that makes it all the more regrettable that she has not got legal assistance.’



He admitted that appearing in court without a lawyer ‘came close’ to breaching her human rights.

Describing the case, the judge conceded she was not begging ‘in an aggressive way’, but said a strong sentence was necessary as she repeatedly breached the injunction.

Estimated coronavirus cases in England double in one week to 6,000 per day

Explaining the sentence, he said: ‘This court cannot simply give repeat injunctions and allow people to go continuing begging, continuing to persist in a nuisance to the population, without some real teeth being given to the injunction.’

He added that Baker’s failure to secure legal representation has become more common since cuts to legal aid came in.

Defending herself, Baker had claimed she had an alibi and CCTV would clear her, as well as claiming mistaken identity and that a police officer wanted her arrested.

Her civil injunction, enforced because she was begging from vulnerable and elderly people, banned her from all begging.