A MAN who was sleeping rough has been fined after he ripped the sign off the front of Tonbridge Police Station in order to get arrested.
Daniel Norris, 39, of Swanley had been sleeping in public toilets on September 25, but tried to get taken into custody so he could sleep in a cell.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage to property valued under £5,000 and was fined a total of £270 at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on October 17.
Prosecuting, David Holman said: “Kent Police was called to the incident at 2.20am on Monday September 25 to arrest a male who was still at the front counter of the police station. Norris said: ‘I’m stuck in Tonbridge with no money, no phone, I’m in a pair of shorts in the cold. Yeah I pulled the sign off the wall.'”
For the defence, Richard Lamb said: “He had to sleep in the toilets in Tonbridge, it was a cold night. He pulled off the sign at the front of the police station to get arrested.
“It was a bad judgement, but he didn’t have two pennies to rub together.”
