A homeless man held in prison on remand for a year remains behind bars until the problem of his lack of accommodation can be sorted out.

Julius Vavrek was physically and verbally abused when down on his luck after losing his job as a painter and decorator during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bradford Crown Court has heard.

Today, the court was told that no housing referral can be made for him until he’s released into the community homeless and facing the same situation as when he committed a string of offences.

Vavrek, 51, had already served the equivalent of a two-year jail sentence, his barrister Soheil Khan said.

Mr Khan suggested at an earlier hearing that the Czech national’s irrational and disgraceful behaviour may have been triggered by the drugs and alcohol handed to him on the streets of Bradford.

He was physically and verbally abused when down on his luck after losing his job as a painter and decorator during the Covid-19 pandemic, the court was told.

He said his “best treatment” while penniless on the streets was to receive people’s leftover alcohol and partial spliffs.

Vavrek went on to trespass at student accommodation in the city and to commit offences of damage, carrying blades and spitting at and kicking police officers. He called a female officer a prostitute and spat in her face.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting the police officers, two offences of criminal damage and two of possession of a bladed article.

His case was today adjourned for a week by Recorder David Gordon because no Czech interpreter was available, although one had been booked by the court.