A MAN and woman have been slapped with a fine after going into a house that was shut down by the police.

The property, on Juniper Close, Banbury, was closed in a bid to put an end to 'anti-social' behaviour. 

A closure order prevents anybody who isn't the resident, landlord or emergency services from entering the house. 

But at around 5.30pm on Friday (January 22) Rebecca Nuttall, 30, and Thomas Hassall, 32, both of no fixed abode, were found in the property by police officers.

They were both arrested and charged with breaching the closure order and on Saturday appeared in the dock of Oxford Magistrates' Court. 

There they were convicted and fined £100 each. 

They were also banned from going to the address or contacting the resident for two years as part of a closure order. 

Sergeant Sarah Nash, of the Banbury problem solving team said: “A closure order was issued at this property to protect the vulnerable resident from exploitation and local drug users.

“Despite knowing this, Nuttall and Hassall continued to enter the property putting the resident at risk.

“We take breaches like this very seriously and work hard to protect our communities from this kind of anti-social behaviour and drug misuse.”

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