Man Faces Life In Prison For Swearing

A British man with 177 convictions for public outbursts could spend the rest of his life in prison because he can’t stop swearing.

Dubbed “Britan’s Rudest Man,” George Lancelot just can’t seem to stop verbally abusing people and using foul language in public.

His latest conviction comes due to violation of an anti-social behavior order (ASBO) by drunkenly causing another scene just hours after being released from jail for his 176th conviction. Witnesses called the police to report that Lancelot was ranting and threatening to stab passers-by near his home in Torquay.

The 61-year-old man has spent eight of the past 10 years in jail for violating the ASBO, according to the North Devon Journal. Most of the convictions came about while he was homeless and living on the streets in Plymouth, but the swearing outbursts and rages continued even after a home was found for him in Torquay.

Judge Phillip Wassall, who sentenced Lancelot to 20 more months Thursday after the last incident, told him he could be spending more time behind bars if he doesn’t change his ways.

“I am told there is unlikely to be any psychiatric disposition to help you,” the judge told him.

“The only thing the court can do is treat you as somebody who habitually breaks the order. On this occasion you were threatening to stab people, swearing and being aggressive to the public within hours of being released,” Wassall said. “Until you realise that this cannot go on, you will face longer and longer sentence. Unless you deal with this you could spend the rest of your life in prison.”

As he was led from the dock at Exeter Crown Court, Lancelot shouted at the judge, “I’d get less for burglary. F**k off!”

Defense attorney Kevin Hopper claims that Lancelot is mentally ill, and suffers from a personality disorder which causes him to swear and rant whenever he is in public after drinking. He wants to court to order mental health treatment for his client.

“He cannot comply with the ASBO because he is mentally ill,” Hopper told BBC News. “If he goes into custody, he will be released and within hours he will be back here with the same outcome. He faces a life term, but I don’t know what to suggest.”

The Howard League for Penal Reform spokesman, Andrew Neilson, agrees with Hopper.

“We should not be filling our jails with people who have mental health needs, let alone someone who appears to pose no actual threat to the public,” he said.

Britain isn’t the only place you can get arrested for swearing in public — this South Carolina woman was arrested for dropping the “F-bomb” in a grocery store in front of her children, according to a recent Inqusitr report.

[Images via the Reluctant Baptist and FreeBeacon]