A homeless man has become the first in the city to be prosecuted under the police’s new dispersal powers.

Adriaan de Jong refused to leave the Dane John Gardens when ordered to by police on Tuesday afternoon.

Under the 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour Act, police have the power to order groups of people to leave central parts of the city for 24 hours.

Canterbury magistrates heard that de Jong, 56, was in a group of men drinking in the gardens when officers arrived and told them to leave.

Prosecuter Teresa Ruiz said de Jong replied: “I’m not moving and I want to breach my bail so I can go to prison.”

He was on bail for driving offences. At an earlier hearing, he had pleaded guilty to two lots of drink-driving, driving while banned and driving without insurance.

He also admitted failing to comply with a dispersal order.

Canterbury police introduced the dispersal order powers in August.

Kerry Waitt, defending, told the court that de Jong wanted to go to prison.

“His liberty, his freedom is worth nothing and when he was told to leave the Dane John Gardens, he said he wanted to go to prison,” the solicitor said.

“He has lost everything and finds himself living on the streets. It is a tragic situation.”

Magistrates jailed de Jong for 120 days.