BANNED

Derek Irons tried to befriend children on their way to school, peered through people's windows and turned up on their doorsteps asking questions of a sexual nature.

On one occasion he walked into a house uninvited and made himself a cup of tea, Warrington Magistrates' Court heard last Friday.

Sion ap Mihangel, prosecuting, said that Irons, of Goose Lane, Hatton, had also urinated in his front garden, set fire to objects close to neighbouring properties and misused the 999 emergency system.

Mr ap Mihangel said: "He is a nuisance and he has not shown over the years any willpower to change his ways.

"The public is entitled to be protected in the long term. If he has stopped being a persistent nuisance he can make an application to discharge the order altogether."

But John Banasko, defending, said: "This is a small community and there have been issues over neighbourliness, and it has all come to a head with this.

"The day when eccentricity becomes the cause of an ASBO is the day when we all need to give up. Individuality is what makes a society what it is."

Peter Laycock, chairman of the bench, said: "We are satisfied that an anti-social behaviour order has been made to prevent the kind of behaviour of which we have evidence.

"It is important that be making such an order we have given out a very clear structure within which you are allowed to behave."

Irons has 11 previous convictions for 38 offences including fraud and dishonesty. The court also heard he was convicted of a sex offence and has to remain on the sex offenders' register until 2009.

Irons was ordered to pay £500 costs.

Helen Kirkley, policy advisor for Warrington Borough Council's community safety department, said: "This is a very positive result and demonstrates that the council is working with partners to ensure that the community is protected from people who persistently commit anti-social behaviour.

"It also sends a clear message to people that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated and the council is committed to stamping it out."

VILLAGE menace Derek Irons will be banned from a variety of activities following his ASBO.

Magistrates placed 16 conditions on the order at Warrington Magistrates on Friday which stops him from behaving violently, threatening or intimidating witnesses or doing anything which could be termed anti-social.

He has also been forbidden from entering private property or from being drunk in public or being found with alcohol in a public place.

He has been stopped from urinating in public, interfering with the emergency serviceS or speaking to anyone under 16 or a woman without consent.

And magistrates decided he cannot travel on buses leaving between 8am and 8.40am and 3pm and 5pm during term time at Bridgewater High School.

He is also banned from starting fires, exposing himself in public and entering an exclusion zone on Hatton Lane.