PROBATION hostel residents "sabotaged" the chances of a deaf and mute Kidderminster crook who was spared jail by a judge last month, Worcester Crown Court was told.

They ganged up against 29-year-old William Carter in Brayley House, Worcester, and made complaints about him, said his barrister, James Hall.

Judge Michael Mott, who freed Carter from custody to live at the hostel, said, however, the experiment to help him had broken down and there was no alternative but prison.

Carter, of Walter Nash Road, Birchen Coppice, Kidderminster, was jailed for nine months after admitting assaulting three police officers and common assault on Sakhjit Sidhu who runs Bargain Booze in Blackwell Street, Kidderminster.

Prosecutor Lee Masters said Carter was banned from the shop but went in on the evening of September 8 this year and slapped Mr Sidhu across the face.

When police arrested him a short distance away, he kicked PC Emma Johnson on the shins and spat in the face of PC Amy Corbett. At the police station, he punched PC Ben Hembry in the face.

Carter, who had a record of 161 previous offences, was the subject of 10 anti-social behaviour orders.

Mr Hall said other residents at the hostel had let everyone know about Carter's record.

He was a drug user and sometimes stole to fund his habit.

In prison on remand, he had been bullied and threatened and found it frustrating because he had difficulty in communicating with people.

The judge said Brayley House's manager had done his utmost to help and there was little point in sending Carter to another hostel.