A PROLIFIC petty criminal has been jailed for ignoring a court order banning him from a town centre.

Lee Cummings was told he was not allowed into parts of Uckfield town centre over his antisocial behaviour and crime.

The unemployed 18-year-old was also banned from meeting with any of six named people.

But he was spotted with one person at Mill Lane last week.

Cummings was charged with breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order and with shoplifting where he stole alcohol from the Applegreen petrol station in Uckfield last month.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court it was revealed he was in breach of a suspended sentence. Cummings, of Selby Road, Uckfield was jailed for 20 weeks.

Inspector Jon Gross said Cummings showed a “complete disregard”.

He said: “CBOs are only granted by a court where it is felt absolutely necessary. They are an order specifically granted to protect communities from the persistent anti-social and criminal acts of individuals who have frequently come to notice for such behaviour.

“Mr Cummings showed complete disregard for his CBO, breaching it within a fortnight of it being issued. It is therefore no surprise that the court has felt it necessary to reflect the breach of the CBO as part of the sentencing in this case.”