Greater Manchester Police are currently arresting about twenty people a month for the criminal offence of 'begging in a public place.'

The crackdown appears to have evolved over the summer without any fanfare and marks a significant shift in direction.

Only 28 people were arrested for begging in the whole of 2017.

At the time of asking, the Crown Prosecution Service told us there are currently 18 'live' cases, thirteen in Manchester and five in Bolton, waiting to come to court in the next month.

Meanwhile, police, in particular the city centre team, are following up their action on the street with a robust PR campaign.

Details of arrests are frequently being shared publicly, with officers using what some critics feel is inappropriate or unhelpful language.

In one recent case, police claimed '99 per cent' of the beggars they arrest are drug addicts.

It comes as the M.E.N revealed yesterday how Manchester Council is considering bringing in ‘public space protection orders’ in four city centre areas to tackle anti-social behaviour, including begging and drug taking.

All our authorities are under increasing pressure to do something about the soaring number of people on Manchester's streets, whether they are begging, or sleeping, or both.

Mayor Andy Burnham made tackling rough sleeping one of the central pledges of his election campaign and has launched a number of schemes this year, including the £1.8million Social Impact Bond (SIB) and the 'Bed Every Night' initiative.

But is it possible to distinguish between those who deserve a warm bed for the night, and those who deserve to be in a cold cell instead?

What is the crime of begging?

It's a law that dates back almost 200 years to the Vagrancy Act of 1824.

That piece of legislation, which also makes rough sleeping an offence, is self-described as 'An Act for the Punishment of idle and disorderly Persons, and Rogues and Vagabonds, in England.'

It has been repealed by Northern Ireland and Scotland but remains in force in our region.

The wording of the charge makes reference to a defendant having positioned themselves 'in a public place, street, highway, court or passage, to beg.'

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

The laws contained in the Vagrancy Act remain controversial, with many calling for it to be scrapped entirely.

Earlier this year, the Lib Dems released figures showing 7,688 people have been prosecuted for rough sleeping under the Act in the last four years.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran told the Mirror: "It is appalling that thousands are being ­arrested using an archaic and outdated law.

"Liberal Democrats will be keeping up the pressure on the Government to think again and scrap the cruel act.”

Begging blitz

Begging prosecutions have been on the up in various parts of the country since at least 2014.

At that point, a report in the Guardian found numbers had doubled in Greater Manchester and police attributed the rise to a change in strategy, saying more PCSOs in the city centre were trained to issue court summonses themselves.

However, it appears that tactic then fell out of favour as prosecutions fell off in the following years.

Only a handful of cases were coming before the courts each month until May this year, when GMP apparently decided to harden its approach.

Since then, there have been 127 begging arrests.

Of these, at least 30 relate to people who have been picked up by police more than once.

The Crown Prosecution Service was unable to provide a breakdown of the outcome in begging cases from the last six months.

However, the M.E.N understands punishments handed out in court generally range from a £50 fine and a few days imprisonment - usually time already served in custody after being arrested - to an absolute discharge.

For example, four men - Robert James Hyland, Earl Stevens, Robert Henry Durbin and Anthony Darren Stocks - were all arrested and charged with begging over the weekend of September 8th.

(Image: gmp)

At Manchester Magistrates Court, Hyland was given a conditional discharge and a £20 victim surcharge fine, Stevens the same, Durbin's case was dropped due to his ill health and Stocks' case was withdrawn as prosecutors decided the case was not made out.

That's the story for those who appear from custody or turn up at court.

Unsurprisingly, some do not attend court.

At Manchester Magistrates Court last week, David Palmer-Smith was listed to appear on a charge of begging in a public place.

He failed to appear and magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest.

However serving this warrant may prove difficult as Palmer-Smith, like many charged with begging, is listed as of 'No Fixed Abode'.

'Beggar threw away bags of donated food before heading home'

Not only have police significantly upped the number of arrests, they have been telling us about it.

An examination of the @GMPCityCentre twitter account shows dozens and dozens of tweets about action taken against beggars this year.

Interestingly, officers have seen fit to go into a level of detail about both the crime and the offender that is rarely seen at the arrest and charge stage of a prosecution.

It has to be said that there is no risk of begging cases going before a jury, therefore there's no fear of prejudicing the case.

But nevertheless, police rarely publicise such personal details when dealing with other, comparably minor crimes.

Take this tweet from September, for example: "Female beggar arrested today at ATM Tesco Express on Deansagte. Has own flat in supported accom & access to benefits."

"Tested positive for crack cocaine & heroin. Has appt with drugs worker to assess needs. Charged & bailed with conditions."

Would police normally reveal an offender's entitlement to housing or benefits?

The point here is that police appear to be conscious of the need to justify begging prosecutions and discourage the public from giving money to people on the street, while pointing them to charity organisations.

A tweet from August read: "A prolific city centre beggar, who commutes on the tram most days, after arrest admitted spending her £300 Disability Living Allowance payment on crack cocaine.

"Her begging earnings are up to £100 a day. Please reconsider street-giving @BigChangeMcr @streetsupportuk"

In another from July police said: "Beggar arrested today sat outside Co-op, Corporation Street, also breaching bail. Charged & remanded. Has own flat & on benefits.

"States doesn't use flat as no electricity and sleeps rough & begs in city centre as gets everything he needs. Support services now aware #streetAction. "

While few of the tweets have identified beggars, some have included scene images to further illustrate the case.

One from earlier this month showed a number of plastic bags by a bin with the caption: "The man begging here threw away several carrier bags full of donated food into the bin before heading home.

"He's been advised about coming into the city centre taking advantage of people visiting the Christmas Markets. Consider an alternative to street giving."

'Not helpful to stigmatise drug users'

The tone of some of these tweets has angered some critics who feel police are victim-blaming and making life more difficult for those 'genuinely' in need.

This tweet proved particularly controversial: "3 city centre beggars arrested today St Mary's Gate, New Cathedral St & London Rd. One man commuted from Rochdale to make up to £50 an hour begging at Christmas Markets.

"Another, had sign: 'It's not for booze or drugs', tested pos for crack cocaine. All now have drugs appoints."

One person wrote in response: "I know you guys do as much as you can for these people but I see these tweets alot. It seems like you are boasting about arresting people in an unfortunate place.

"Not all addicts are bad people, just people in a bad cycle that need help."

Another wrote: "it's not helpful to stigmatise drug users. Addiction isn't a choice it's a complex problem linked to trauma.

"Why mention the guy with the sign. try a more humane and understanding approach, I'm sure you would have improved results. Imagine w/d off heroin w/o a bathroom or bed."

And another added: "Maybe if we looked after our citizens properly they might not need drugs or to beg. But sure, lets vilify them instead"

In response, police said: "99% of beggars we arrest are either heroin, crack cocaine, Spice addicts or alcoholics whether they rough sleep of not. Those without addictions don't beg for food or money as they attend the numerous official drop-ins, don't have complex needs & get off the streets quickly."

In a separate tweet, city centre police said they regularly receive complaints from residents and businesses that they are 'not doing enough' to tackle city centre begging.

“These posts inform our critics of our work & advise followers to give direct to charities. There is plenty of help for those willing to accept it," the team added.

In October, the team shared 'feedback' from one city centre resident who said: "I am not too sure what has been happening the last 6 to 8 weeks but the streets in Manchester seem to have had a thirty percent drop in beggars outside cashpoints and in particular the aggressive beggars seem to be less as well.

"I have been attacked three times so far by varying ones due to the drugs and alcohol they take and the consequent behaviour and even my elderly mother has been harassed whilst in a zimmer frame and thus no way to escape quickly.

"Thanks for whatever you are doing to enforce more law and order in the city centre and I hope it continues.

"The impact they have made in the past, (fraudulent beggars not genuinely desperate for money ones) on my life, my area and the reputation of my city has been atrocious."

Asked about the increase in prosecutions, a GMP spokesman said: “In response to questions around the number of people who are arrested for begging in the city centre - of the 84 arrested for begging since the beginning of August, 80 had known addictions to either Class A drugs, Spice, or alcohol and in one case cannabis i.e. 95 per cent of those arrested.

“Our first response will always be one of engagement and support, and we're committed to working with our partners to get people the help that they need.”

Further council action coming?

As the M.E.N revealed yesterday - Manchester City council is now seeking to go a step further in a bid and enforce 'no begging zones'.

‘Public space protection orders’ covering four specific areas - Piccadilly Gardens, Chinatown, Piccadilly and the Smithfield estate in the Northern Quarter - would see anyone breaching them hit with instant penalties.

Council chiefs have not decided whether to go ahead with the orders or what exact behaviour they might cover, but it is understood they would be likely to target 'persistent', repeated and aggressive begging, as well as people openly taking drugs such as heroin and spice.

Such orders can result in penalties ranging from warnings to on-the-spot fines, although failure to pay can also lead to a court appearance and ultimately imprisonment.

Town hall insiders insisted the move would not be aimed at moving on people just for sleeping rough or being homeless.

The proposal has been met with a mixed reaction.

Piccadilly councillor Sam Wheeler said PSPOs could be one way of tackling serious drug-taking in the area, including getting people into rehabilitation programmes.

(Image: M.E.N.)

“There’s currently a large amount of dealing on that (Smithfield) estate and it’s where people take their drugs - heroin, rather than spice - because it’s quiet and out of the way,” he said.

“Speaking to the residents, it’s not aggression that's the problem, more just the constant having people slumped in their gardens, public areas and all the needles.

“My hope would be for the PSPO enforcement to be the nudge into engagement with services, because they won’t be able to stay there.

“Currently there’s no mechanism to move them on and they’re generally not begging, so unless the police caught them in the few minutes between buying and using, there’s not much they can do.”

But Richard Kilpatrick, Liberal Democrat deputy leader of the opposition on Manchester council, condemned the PSPO idea.

“When it comes to talking about homelessness and begging, this council seems to forget we are talking about human beings, and this appears to be yet another effort to move rough sleepers out of sight, out of mind, to less visible areas," he said.

"We have opposed measures similar to this in the past and will continue to oppose anything aimed at criminalising already vulnerable people rather than tackling the causes that led them there.

"The money, effort and person-hours would be much better spent preventing the causes of rough sleeping and begging and I'm sure local people would much prefer that the already overstretched and underfunded police be kept on the streets fighting against gangs, drugs and burglary rather than wasting hours on paperwork."

Asked about the proposals, a spokesman for the Mayor Andy Burnham said: “As part of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, local authorities are able to use Public Space Protection Orders to help make local areas safer.

"Before they can be approved and enacted, local authorities must consult with the local chief constable and the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner, or in Greater Manchester, the mayor.

“It is important that everyone has the opportunity to use and enjoy our public spaces safely. At the same time, ensuring there is the right assistance and support for those that need it should also be carefully considered."

Any new PSPOs in the city centre were 'a matter for the city council', they added.

Anyone wishing to help Manchester's homeless people can find out more at streetsupport.net/manchester.