Police backed after 'nuisance' Polish men leave UK over 'drunkenness and begging'
Police have been backed after two Polish men who blighted a town centre by begging, shoplifting and being drunk left the UK following an immigration crackdown.
Jerzy Rawszewski, aged 65, and a fellow countryman, were the subject of repeat complaints from residents, shoppers and retailers in West Bromwich.
The force said a nearby hotel had also complained of two homeless men matching their description sleeping rough and using a stairwell as a toilet.
The pair, shown in a CCTV image issued by West Midlands Police, were offered help with alcohol addiction and housing support but officers say the men refused.
Both had been in the UK for longer than three months and were shown to be in breach of European Economic Area rules by not working, looking for work, studying or being financially self-sufficient.
Rawszewski was removed from the country on June 9 while the other man, a 59-year-old, who police have not named, had already agreed to return to Poland voluntarily and was escorted to Luton Airport just hours after his detention on May 17.
West Bromwich councillor Patricia Davies backed the police's decision to act following the complaints.
She said: "I fully support the decision that was taken. It has caused an immense nuisance for shoppers and shopkeepers and I am sure they will welcome the decision made to keep the town centre as peaceful as possible."
Pc Steve Horton, from West Bromwich Police station, said: "The men had become a real nuisance in the town centre and Carters Green area and caused significant alcohol-related anti-social behaviour (ASB).
"They were living in awful conditions and such was the state of the mess that Environmental Health was called to help with the clean-up operation.
"We had served them with ASB warning letters and offered support and advice on alcohol addiction and housing but they refused to engage or accept offers of help.
"Another Polish man, aged 60, was returned to his home country in February after he was found sleeping in a cramped, disused electrical shed.
"He too had caused persistent alcohol-related ASB over three years.
"Since his return to Poland he has passed his thanks to us, through a third party, for our intervention as he now has a hostel and is seeking help with his alcohol dependency."
