Jail for Romanians caught begging in Strand Street

Three of four defendants had been warned for offence previously

Four Romanian nationals have been jailed after being caught begging in Douglas at the weekend.

The quartet – in the United Kingdom illegally - appeared at Douglas Courthouse today (25 July) after being arrested by police on Saturday.

Mihai Stoica and Viorca Vasiliu who are both 55-years-old, were joined in the dock by Loredana-Mihaela Baicu, who turned 33 today, and 34-year-old Sebastian Enache.

All four - who told the court they have no fixed address - admitted committing a vagrancy offence on 22 July; Vasiliu also admitted stealing from Marks and Spencer on the same day.  

Two interpreters, who speak Romanian, joined the defendants in the dock to translate the court proceedings.

Vagrancy

The four were prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act of 1896.

Stoica, Vasiliu and Baicu were charged with: ‘Wandering abroad … not having any visible means of subsistence, and not giving a good account of himself.’

Enache was charged with: ‘Wandering abroad and endeavouring, by the exposure of wounds and deformities, to obtain or gather alms.’

The husband and wife

Police were called to Strand Street at 10.50am after reports that Vasiliu was sitting opposite Boots, with a coffee cup on the ground in front of her, begging members of the public for money.  

When she saw officers she packed up her belongings and made off – when they caught up with her she could provide no explanation for what she was doing.

She was arrested and a cardboard sign which read: “Please help me, I’m hungry. God bless you” was recovered along with a stolen skirt.

Her husband, Stoica, was arrested after attempting to intervene – CCTV showed him conversing with the other Romanian defendants.

The duo was arrested and taken to Police Headquarters where they were interviewed.

Stoica told officers the group had come to the Island the day before on the understanding that there were jobs available for them at a factory.

However he said a promised meeting with the organiser hadn’t materialised and they’d spent the night sleeping rough; he admitted begging but said he didn’t know it was illegal.

Stoica said he’d lived in a number of places in the UK – including Leeds, Kingston and Morecambe – but couldn’t provide specific addresses; he evaded questions about working legally.

His wife told officers she too had come to the Island because she’d been promised work but refused to answer any questions about begging or how she was supporting herself.  

“Please help me, I’m hungry”

Police found Enache outside Pat-a-Cake on Duke Street – he was sat on top of a suitcase and was covered with a blanket.

There was an empty coffee cup in front of him and a sign which read: “Please, some change for my surgery on my eyes, hand and leg. Thank you so much. God bless you.”

He was arrested and charged with trying to use the exposure of his wounds or deformities to obtain money.

Baicu was the fourth to be arrested after being found sitting by a bin outside the Strand Shopping Centre.

She was covered with a blanket and had a paper cup with coins in it and a sign which also read: “Please help me, I’m hungry. God bless you”.

She could provide officers with no information about what she was doing and had no means to support herself financially.

Previous

The court was told Enache, Vasiliu and Stoica had been arrested by police on 5 July this year for vagrancy.

Officers had taken them to Police Headquarters but established, on that occasion, that they had funds for onward travel.

They were de-arrested and accompanied to the Sea Terminal where they boarded a ferry back to Heysham.

Checks with immigration showed none of the defendants have valid leave to be in the United Kingdom.

All four had also had previous applications to remain there refused.

Mitigation

Advocates representing the Romanians asked for credit for their guilty pleas and highlighted that none of the four have any previous convictions recorded on the Police National Computer.

Vasiliu’s advocate said she was only begging for a short period of time adding: “She hasn’t been overly pestering or a significant nuisance to members of the public.”

Her husband’s advocate added: “This is a very, very sad case. The Isle of Man doesn’t have a homeless shelter and that is one of the reasons they face criminal prosecution today.”

When quizzed by the high bailiff about how his client would return to the UK Paul Rogers told the court: “I’m more than happy to pay for the ferry. It’s not a lot of money – well for advocates it’s not.”

Baicu’s advocate said her client had four children who she needed to support adding: “It is for that reason she is on the Isle of Man – for the promise of work which did not come to fruition.”

Accepting his client had attempted to use health issues for gain Enache’s advocate told the court: “These are issues he’s had from birth.

“He wants more than anything to be released from custody and to leave the Isle of Man,” he added.

All four advocates said their clients didn’t have the financial means to organise any onward travel.

Sentence

Addressing the Romanians in the dock High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said there had been ‘sophistication’ to the offending and ‘no real explanation’ as to why they had travelled here.

“You came deliberately to the Isle of Man from the United Kingdom despite none of you being able to speak English,” she said.  

“You each came to the Isle of Man with no visible means of support. You were begging in the streets of Douglas in the middle of a busy Saturday.” – High Bailiff Jayne Hughes

Explaining that the maximum penalty was three months custody she said she had no option, due to the circumstances, but to impose an immediate prison sentence.

Sentencing the four defendants to 21 days in custody she told them they’ll serve half of it at the Isle of Man Prison and half in the community.

Vasiliu was also handed an additional seven days in custody for the theft offence.

Exclusion

Exclusion orders were also imposed which will ban the four individuals returning to the Isle of Man for five years.

The high bailiff told them they will be given assistance to travel back to the United Kingdom when they are released from custody.