POLICE found a 45-year-old man sitting on a wall in Blackburn’s Corporation Park eating a packet of crisps and sniffing butane gas.

And Romesh Hira’s unusual picnic earned him four months in prison after magistrates heard he was banned under the terms of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order from possessing butane gas in public.

Hira, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaching the order and was jailed for 120 days.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said that since the order was made in 2006 there had been 13 breaches.

“This year alone he has been sent to prison three times and fined once,” said Miss Allan.

Rachel Adamson, defending, said under the terms of the order Hira was banned from sniffing, or possessing, butane in public.

“It is a difficult situation for my client because he is addicted to butane,” said Miss Adamson.

“He is also homeless, so avoiding possession in public is almost impossible.”