EXCLUSIVE

by Aline Nassif

aline.nassif@essnmedia.co.uk

A shopkeeper who was terrorised by a disabled drunk says an ASBO will do "nothing to keep him away".

Nasser Tadross has endured two years of abuse from 59-year-old Geoffrey Coppin, who has just been hit with a five-year anti-social behaviour order.

Coppin was an "unwelcome regular" at the Brigstock Cafe, in Thornton Heath, where customers would regularly be subjected to his drunken tirades.

On one occasion, last November, the menace pulled down his trousers and urinated in front of customers as they ate their lunch.

But it wasn't until Coppin smashed Mr Tadross' glass front door with the arm of his wheelchair, on December 18 last year, that he was finally hauled before the courts.

He pleaded guilty to criminal damage and after a previous ASBO, secured by the British Transport Police, expired in April, Croydon police began the process of applying for another.

This has now been granted and it bans Coppin from parts of Thornton Heath and forbids him from going to Mayday Hospital, which he would use as a "place to sleep", unless in an emergency.

The areas of Thornton Heath he is banned from are the High Street and the roads between, and including, Brigstock Road, Bensham Lane, Ecclesbourne Road and Bensham Manor Road.

He is also not allowed to carry an "open drink" anywhere within the M25.

And he must not go anywhere near West Croydon train station, where in July 2008 he threatened a member of staff and then exposed himself to commuters – some of them young children.

Mr Tadross, 61, however, doubts the far-reaching order will have the desired effect.

"If he's breached his ASBO once he'll do it again," he said. "The man is a complete nuisance and he has really affected business, not just for me but a lot of shopkeepers in Brigstock Road.

"He started turning up here two years ago. He'd visit up to twice a week but then disappear for weeks at a time.

"At first I took pity on him, and gave him food and drink, but he was always drunk and abusive and my patience wore thin.

"He put off customers constantly but things got really bad last November when he pulled his pants down and peed in front of them."

The incident where his shop window was smashed left Mr Tadross at the end of his tether.

He said: "It cost me £60 to repair and I got no compensation as he hasn't got a penny to his name."

A Croydon police spokesman admitted Coppin is an "aggressive alcoholic who regularly uses the arm of his wheelchair as a weapon".

He added that Coppin had breached his previous ASBO "constantly".

PC Mark Parsons, of Bensham Manor Safer Neighbourhood Team, added: "The evidence provided by the public was graphic.

"This ASBO encourages the public to report Coppin's behaviour when it falls below acceptable standards."