PENARTH town centre vagrant Gary Cooper - who was last month banned from entering the area - has appeared in court where he admitted breaching his Anti Social Behaviour Order (Asbo).

The 45-year-old escaped a fine or imprisonment, but was told that if he breaks the order again he will go to jail.

He was issued with his Asbo, as reported in the Penarth Times (July 19), after committing a string of public order offences.

Cooper, who now gives his address as Church Road, Barry, appeared at Barry Magistrates Court on Friday, August 10.

He admitted straying into the area from which he is banned on August 3, after getting off a bus at the main town centre stop on Windsor Road.

The court heard he was verbally abusive to female staff members in a salon, and was verbally abusive and aggressive towards officers who were called to deal with him.

Under the terms of his Asbo, Cooper is forbidden from entering Penarth town centre and from consuming alcohol in any public place within one mile of Penarth railway station.

He was also charged with being drunk and disorderly on April 20.

Defending, Declan McSorley said that Cooper - a paranoid schizophrenic and chronic alcoholic - had not had a doctor for two years, and there was no system in place to help him with his problems.

Mr McSorely said: "He's a complete public nuisance.

"It's a fact of life."

He added that Cooper had been fed and clothed by people in Penarth and that he was an individual who provoked "difficult sympathy".

"There is something inherently tragic about his situation," he added.

"Mr Copper being drunk - that's inevitable.

"The police themselves have written a document saying the individual has no control over his addiction.

"His survival for two and a half years in Penarth is an interesting reflection of the benevolence of people."

District Judge John Charles ordered that Cooper be discharged conditionally for a period of 18 months - warning him that any further offences would result in imprisonment.