Committal for contempt of court: Moat Homes Limited -v- Mr Adrian Platt

County CourtCommittal for Contempt of Court

Claim number: K01CM208

In the County Court at Chelmsford

Sitting in The County Court at Southend

4 July 2025

Before:

HHJ Duddridge

Between:

Moat Homes Limited

-v-

Mr Adrian Platt

Judgment re contempt of court

UPON hearing Mr Greaves, a housing officer for the Claimant and the Defendant in person

AND UPON Mr Greaves informing the Court that the Defendant’s father is no longer living at Parker Court and is likely to be moved elsewhere, that the antisocial behaviour injunction made on 26 March 2024 is not likely to be required after that has happened, and that Mr Greaves can facilitate the Defendant retrieving his possessions from Parker Court

AND UPON the Defendant having been arrested on 28 June 2025 for an alleged breach of the Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction made by HHJ Livesley on 26 March 2024 [“the Injunction”], the alleged breach being that he entered Parker Court on or before 28 June 2025 in breach of paragraph 1 of the Injunction

AND UPON the Defendant admitting today that he was in Parker Court on 28 June 2025 in breach of paragraph 1 of the Injunction and saying that he went there to retrieve his possessions and does not intend to go there again

AND UPON the Defendant having previously been committed to prison for a period of 9 months by orders of HHJ Duddridge dated 12 August 2024 and 26 January 2025

AND FOR THE REASONS set out in the Judgment delivered orally at the hearing and annexed to this Order

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. The Defendant be committed to prison for a period of 12 weeks in respect of his breach of the anti-social behaviour injunction on 28 June 2025.
  2. The Defendant has the right to appeal against this Order without requiring permission. Any appeal should be brought in the Court of Appeal. The Appellant’s Notice should be lodged at the Court of Appeal by not later than 4pm on 5 March 2025.
  3. A copy of this Order and the Judgment annexed to it will be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales.

JUDGMENT

  1. Mr Platt, the history of the antisocial behaviour injunction dated 26 March 2024, your previous arrests and committals for breach of it are set out in the Judgment annexed to my order made on 11 February 2025. On that occasion I activated a suspended committal of 4 months and imposed an immediate committal to prison of 5 months for a further breach of the order. I have taken that history into account today but do not repeat it here.
  2. On 28 June 2025 you were once again arrested in Parker Court, in breach of paragraph 1 of the antisocial behaviour injunction made by DDJ Livesley on 26 March 2024 (which remains in force until 25 March 2026.)
  3. You have admitted today that you returned to Parker Court and were arrested there on 28 June 2025. You have said that you went there to retrieve your possessions. You have asked me to deal with matters today.
  4. I have considered the guidance given by the Court of Appeal in Christopher Lovett v Wigan Borough Council [2022] EWCA Civ 1631. The objectives in sentencing for contempt of court are, in the following order: (i) ensuring future compliance with the order; (ii) punishment; and (iii) rehabilitation. I have also considered the range of possible orders set out in paragraph 40 of the Court of Appeal’s judgment and the CJC’s guidelines reproduced at paragraph 54 of that judgment.
  5. Those guidelines require me to set the penalty for your contempt by assessing the relative culpability of the breach on a scale A to C and the relative harm it caused on a scale 1 to 3, before considering aggravating factors that may increase the penalty and mitigating factors that may reduce it.
  6. The matters I consider most relevant to culpability are:

a. You first breached the Injunction on 13 April 2024, the day after it was served upon you.
b. You have repeatedly breached the Injunction despite having been arrested, produced to the Court and remanded on bail to attend future hearings.
c. It is clear that you are aware of the terms of the injunction and the consequences of breaching it, having been arrested and produced before the court for breaching it several times.
d. You have repeatedly told me at hearings that you will not return to Parker Court and I have warned you repeatedly of the consequences of doing so.
e. You told me that you went to retrieve your possessions. But that is not a good excuse for breaching the order. You should liaise with Moat Housing to make appropriate arrangements.

  1. Your breaches of the injunction are flagrant and it is clear that you have no intention of complying with it. I consider that this latest breach falls within Culpability A given the persistence and frequency of your breaches of the Injunction and the repeated contempt you have shown for the authority of the Court.
  2. The matters most relevant to harm are:

a. The purpose of the Injunction was in part to protect your father, who lives at Parker Court, has dementia and is vulnerable. It was also to protect other residents of Parker Court, which is a retirement complex for residents aged 55 and over. I have been told in the past that the youngest resident is 61, the oldest is 87.
b. However, your father is not currently living at Parker Court and there is no evidence that your actions caused harm to any other resident at this time.
c. The evidence relied on in support of the application for an injunction showed that your behaviour had already caused them fear and alarm. Allegations included brandishing a knife, threats to kill the neighbours, setting fires and threats of violence to neighbours and your father as well as other anti-social behaviour.
d. Although there is no evidence that you directly caused harm to any other person when you were there on 28 June 2025, your very presence at Parker Court is likely to cause fear and alarm to the residents there and undermines the purpose of the injunction.

  1. I consider that these circumstances fall within Harm Category 2.
  2. The starting point for Culpability A, Harm Category 2 is a custodial sentence of 3 months. The range is adjourned consideration to 6 months.
  3. Aggravating features in this case include that this is the seventh breach of the injunction since it was made and, most significantly, that you breached it on 28 June 2025 despite having recently been released from prison following your committal for your earlier breaches.
  4. You said you would not return to Parker Court but you have told me that in the past and yet returned there, as my judgment on 11 February 2025 recorded. I am unable to take you at your word. I believe you will return there if you are at large.
  5. In mitigation I bear in mind the following:

a. You admitted the breach today thus saving the need for the arresting officer or other witnesses to attend Court to give evidence and you asked for me to deal with matters, avoiding the need for further hearings. On the other hand, you were arrested on the premises and so could not realistically have denied it.
b. There was evidence last year that you had experienced mental health difficulties, although it appears you were nonetheless able to understand the Injunction and its consequences and there is no evidence of any such mental health difficulties today.

  1. In view of your repeated breaches of the Injunction and the fact that the latest breach happened so soon after you were released from prison, I consider that you will not comply with the injunction if I impose anything other than a custodial penalty. Given the persistence of your breaches despite previous arrests, warnings and committal orders, I consider that this latest breach falls towards the top end of the range of penalties indicated by the guidelines even taking into account those mitigating factors.
  2. In all the circumstances I consider that the appropriate penalty for the breach on 28 June 2025 is a period of 14 weeks imprisonment. I have considered carefully whether I should impose a longer penalty than that, and a longer one than I have done previously, to reflect the seriousness and persistence of your further breaching the order shortly after serving that penalty but I do not think it is proportionate on this occasion to do so.
  3. I have considered whether to suspend that penalty. It would not be appropriate to do so given the history of breaches I have described and the likelihood that you will continue to breach the injunction if you are at large.
  4. I shall give you credit for the 6 nights you have spent in the custody of the police or on remand since you were arrested on 28 June 2025. The effect of s.258 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, is that those 6 days are equivalent to a custodial penalty of 12 days. I shall round that up to 2 weeks and deduct it from the penalty of 14 weeks.
  5. I therefore impose a penalty of 12 weeks for your latest breach. That is a substantial penalty in total, but I am satisfied that it is proportionate having regard to the persistent breaches of the injunction and that you have continued to breach the injunction despite previous arrests and penalties for contempt of court.
  6. You have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal without requiring permission. Any Appellant’s Notice must be lodged at the Court of Appeal by 4pm on 26 July 2025.
  7. This judgment will be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales.