A HEREFORDSHIRE criminal with a "significant history" of offending has avoided being sent straight to prison after breaking the law again.

Ashley White entered a guilty plea to one count of breaching a criminal behaviour order when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford in August.

The court heard from prosecutor Andrew Mitchinson that the 33-year-old had been made subject to a criminal behaviour order by magistrates in Hereford on May 3.

The three-year order was granted after White was convicted of a number of offences including theft and threatening behaviour, all of which had taken place in Hereford city centre, a West Mercia Police spokesperson said earlier this year.

The order banned him from entering Commercial Street and Eign Gate in Hereford.

He was further banned from entering Hereford's Commercial Street McDonald's and Burger King, Bewell Street's Tesco, Bobblestock Co-op, and the city's Asda and Morrisons supermarkets.

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Police community harm officer Jim Mooney said at the time that White had a "significant history of offending", with more than 25 criminal convictions and having been involved in some 80 crime and disorder incidents in recent years.

But, the court heard, White had entered Eign Gate on May 29, in breach of the order.

Magistrates said that if White, of West Street, Leominster, was sentenced immediately it would be a custodial sentence, and instead chose to defer sentencing to allow him to engage with his employer, probation, and Turning Point, saying that if he does so, the sentence could be non-custodial.

White will appear before magistrates in Hereford next for sentencing on October 25.