"The defendant was persistent in his approaches"
Daevan Patel has been jailed for two years for “relentlessly” pestering his parents for money to fund his drug addiction.
The 49-year-old from Wolverhampton flouted several restraining orders that had prohibited contact with his parents.
On one occasion, he asked his parents to drop him off to meet his drug dealer after intercepting them at the doorstep of their Black Country home.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Patel “relentlessly” requested money and sometimes called his parents 10 times a day, showing up at their home if they did not answer.
He was handed restraining orders protecting his parents from him in 2009 and 2013. The latest restraining order was imposed for five years in August 2019, allowing contact only by telephone.
Prosecutor Sarah Allen said Patel was jailed after breaching the order and was released in July 2022.
He then breached the order a further three times when he turned up at their home in the Bilston area of Wolverhampton.
Patel knocked on their door on January 21, 2023, but was not let inside.
Four days later, Patel followed his parents to their house when they returned from work.
He “wore them down” until they gave him £28. Patel then “tailgated” the couple a second time when they arrived home from work on January 27.
He asked for cash and a lift back to meet with his drug dealer.
Patel shouted at his parents and said his dealer needed to “go somewhere” so they complied with his demands.
They handed over £36 and drove him home. The court was told Patel’s parents decided to inform police after they “ran out of money to give him” and were concerned about what he might do.
The victims could “ill-afford” to give their son the money and had previously handed over up to £70 a day.
Ms Allen said: “The defendant is a prolific drug user and has been, over the years, harassing his parents.
“The defendant was persistent in his approaches to his parents.”
Patel admitted he had contacted his parents and even seemed to laugh during the police interview.
Ms Allen said: “He did not appear to show much care to the suffering he was causing his parents and it appears he was of the view that because he was a drug addict, he was absolved of any responsibility for his actions.”
Patel has previous offences for dishonesty, shoplifting and theft.
He also committed an offence of fraud, with his parents the victims of his crime. Family members have also been victims of previous assaults.
The victims have now been left feeling “degraded and depressed” by Patel’s constant demands.
Robert Cowley, defending, said Patel’s life had been “ruined” by drugs.
Mr Cowley said:
“He says his problem in the past is that he has always returned to the same part of the West Midlands.”
“He has mixed with the same people.”
Mr Cowley added that Patel intends to stay in Wales once he is released from prison and hopes to stay clean of drugs.
Sentencing, Judge John Butterfield KC said Patel had made his parents’ lives a “misery” by “bleeding them for money” to fund his drug habit.
He added: “You have contempt for others and for the orders of the courts.”
Patel admitted three counts of breach of a restraining order on January 21, 25 and 27.
He was jailed for two years and handed a five-year restraining order.
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