A judge has criticised the “stupid system” which allowed police to refuse to give details of a defendant’s previous convictions to the probation service.

Gordon Ward, 26, appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday to be dealt with for breaching a community order imposed in 2006 for an assault.

But the case had to be stood down because the court had not been provided with Ward’s previous convictions.

Judge Peter Benson was initially told that Probation headquarters had refused to fax the details to its Bradford office because of the Data Protection Act. He directed that the information be sent to the court.

But after further inquiries it was revealed it had been the police who, at first, had refused to send the documentation. It was then provided to the court following the judge’s order.

Prosecutor Peter Hampton told the judge he had made inquiries into why the previous convictions had been so difficult to obtain.

He said: “It wasn’t the probation office standing in the way, but the police. They were refusing to hand over the previous convictions. The problem was the link between the probation service and police.”

Judge Benson said: “It is a stupid system. There is not much point in keeping somebody’s record unless it is available for the court’s use. The probation service need that information when a breach is dealt with.”

The court was told Ward punched the complainant in the mouth after he had been drinking. The incident happened at flats in Croscombe Walk, off Manchester Road, Little Horton in 2006.

He was given a Community Order, with supervision for two years and 100 hours unpaid work, which was to be supervised by Essex probation after the defendant moved there. He breached the order almost immediately by failing to attend probation and fled to Scotland, where he was subsequently given a five-month prison sentence for driving over the prescribed limit.

Sentencing him to three months imprisonment for the assault and revoking the order, Judge Benson told him: “Those who are given the opportunity of a community sentence must expect that if they flagrantly breach it, a custodial sentence will follow.”

After the case, Detective Inspector Mark Long, Bradford District Integrated Offender Management Co-ordinator, said: “This has been a complicated case involving partners from outside West Yorkshire. There are set procedures and legalisation in place around information sharing with the Courts and the Probation Service which must adhered too.”