Man banned from Crawley town centre after claiming he had Covid-19 and threatening to spit at police

Police say that 24-year-old Odiaka Ikpade had breached a Community Protection Notice for the fifth time when he was spotted by officers on foot patrol in Crawley town centre on April 1.

He had previously been issued with the Community Protection Notice - which prevents him from entering the town centre - in November 2019.

Police approached Ikpade for breaching the order and, while being arrested, Ikpade claimed to be infected with coronavirus and threatened to spit at the officers.

Police say he was taken into custody where he again threatened staff and spat over the floor of a police cell.

Ikpade, of Dunheved Road West, Thornton Heath, was later charged with failing to comply with a community protection notice, criminal damage and three counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

He was issued with a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order preventing him from:

Entering Crawley town centre, unless he has a pre-booked approved appointment.

Entering County Oak retail park.

Entering any commercial/retail premises within the borough of Crawley.

Remain on any commercial/retail premises within the borough of Crawley after being asked to leave.

Ikpade was also given a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement, 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a 12-week prison sentence which was suspended for 18-months.

Crawley Chief Inspector Shane Baker said: “I welcome the court’s decision to issue Ikpade with a CBO for two years.

“He has been causing issues within the community and showed complete disregard for the CPN already in place.

“I would ask members of the public to assist us in policing this order and if they see Ikpade in an area he is prohibited from to make contact with us immediately.

“You can report information to us either online or by calling 101.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.