News Prison threat over court order breach
A man has been told he could face jail if he continues to breach a community order.
Denis Salitikovs (23) was given the warning after magistrate Ray Sampson ordered him to complete the maximum 300 hours' unpaid work as part of a community order.
Mr Salitikovs, of Byron Street in Goole, had already been ordered to serve 250 hours by Doncaster magistrates, who handed down a community sentence earlier this year for two counts of shop theft.
But he failed to do the work and was summoned to Goole magistrates to face a charge of breaching a community order.
Mr Salitikovs, a Russisan national, appeared before town magistrates last week when he pleaded guilty to breaching the order.
Louise Jubb, of the Probation Service, said Mr Salitikovs had missed both his scheduled meetings with the service and had not even contacted officers to explain
She added that letters had been sent out to Mr Salitikovs in English and Russian but there was no response.
She said interpreters had been arranged to help Mr Salitikovs "at not inconsiderable expense to the taxpayer", but there had been a "complete lack of contact" from him and he had failed to carry out any of the unpaid work.
Mrs Jubb said Mr Salitikovs had shown a "wilful disregard" of the orders of the court, which had included a 12-month supervision order. She added that Mr Salitikovs had "a lack of grasp" of the English language and suggested that the supervision element be removed from the order.
Chris Dickens, defending, said the letters notifying Mr Salitikovs about his Probation Service appointments had been sent to his old address in Weatherill Street in Goole.
Mr Salitikovs, who was accompanied by a Russian interpreter in court, went back to his old house to check his mail.
He admitted that he did find correspondence from the Probation Service but could not read it because he did not understand English.
Mr Dickens added that Mr Salitikovs had gone to Goole Police Station "but they couldn't understand him and he couldn't understand them'.
He added, however, that Mr Salitikovs did not follow this up by getting in touch with the Probation Service.
When asked by Mr Sampson why he couldn't understand the letters when there was a Russian translation attached, Mr Salitikovs could not provide a conclusive answer.
Magistrates agreed to Miss Jubb's request to vary the order so that the 12-month supervision was taken out. They also added 50 hours to Mr Salitikov's community order, which means he now has to complete 300 hours, the maximum magistrates can hand down.
Mr Sampson told Mr Salitikovs: "This order for unpaid work is a direct alternative to a custodial sentence. I believe that if you breach it again you will go immediately into custody.'
Published on 22nd May 2008 in News.
Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit
Comments
There are currently no comments
Comments are closed for this article.