Abuse ban for Waddington man

A man has been banned from making comments which could alarm or distress after behaving a way which left females 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.

The court heard that on October 4 Coleman entered the waiting room at Cliff Villages Medical Practice in Mere Road, Waddington and began abusing a person there, using foul language in an unprovoked tirade.

On October 10 he committed two offences against three different women including an incident at Co-op pharmacy in Waddington when he again began to verbally abuse people there, causing them to fear violence.

Later he followed a woman and engaged in conversation which made her extremely uncomfortable and fear for her own safety. 

Five days later police received a report that he had approached one of the same women in Bar Lane, Waddington, again entering unwanted inappropriate conversation.

He pleaded guilty to all four offences on December 5 following an investigation 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, which he accepted in court.  

At the hearing, Coleman was given an interim Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) until he is sentenced on January 10. This states he must 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 when their behaviour has brought them before a criminal court and recipients are monitored by the police.