Officers from the city’s Community Safety Unit and Victim Based Crime Team built a case against Kieron Carter following a series of incidents.
The 29-year-old, of no fixed address, appeared before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 April 2023 and admitted racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 12 counts of theft.
He was jailed for a year and a Criminal Behaviour Order was imposed prohibiting him from entering the city centre for two years.
A restraining order was also imposed preventing him from going into Tesco Express in New Dover Road for two years.
The theft offences relate to repeat incidents of shoplifting from the supermarket between July and September 2022.
On 25 July 2022, Carter refused to leave the outside seating area of a restaurant in the city, despite not having ordered anything.
When a member of staff asked him to move on, he made racist comments and attempted to headbutt the victim, before slapping him.
Inspector Paul Stoner, of Canterbury’s Community Safety Unit, said: ‘My officers are determined to protect Canterbury’s businesses and their staff from repeat offenders like Carter.
I hope the jail term imposed following this investigation, and the court orders we were granted, give traders some peace of mind.
‘We will continue working to bring offenders of this kind to justice and take robust action whenever appropriate.’
