Have-a-go- store staff tackle prolific thief

Defendant lashed out, court hears

STAFF at a Newbury store proved they were no soft touch as they caught, overpowered and detained a prolific shoplifter.

They pinned Darren Neal Brown to the ground as he struggled, lashed out and hurled abuse at them, Newbury magistrates heard on Thursday, June 4.

The drama happened at the Marks and Spencer store at Newbury Retail Park, Pinchington Lane.

Felicity Lineham, prosecuting, said the 35-year-old, of Newtown Road, Newbury, was seen to select food from the shelf and leave without making any attempt to pay for it.

Outraged staff then swung into action.

Ms Lineham said: “They got into a struggle with this defendant. He handed over two packets of meat but two packets of tuna, which he had continued to attempt to conceal, then fell out.

“The store CCTV operator, Sue Redfern, noticed that he was very agitated and had started to get abusive.

“She saw the defendant take a swing at her colleague. He went to push and grab that colleague and another member of staff tried to push him away. The store operations manager also said that the defendant went to hit a staff member.”

But then, the court heard, Mr Brown was overpowered and was “pinned down” by store staff who detained him until police arrived and arrested him.

Mr Brown admitted stealing food worth £32 from the store on April 26 this year.

Because the food had been removed from the store, it could not be resold, said Ms Lineham.

Mr Brown also admitted stealing goods worth £100 from Boots on another occasion, failing to answer bail, possessing the Class C controlled drug diazepam at The Nightingales, Newbury, on March 2 and breaching two conditional discharges imposed for previous offending.

His list of previous convictions includes 68 offences of theft, the court heard.

Felicity Ferguson, defending, said her client had a longstanding drug problem but was making serious efforts to mend his ways.

She added: “He is very motivated at the moment to turn his life around.”

Ms Ferguson asked magistrates to read pre-sentence reports prepared on her client.

After doing so, magistrates made Mr Brown subject to a 12- month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement.

They also ordered him to pay £32 compensation to Marks and Spencer, £100 compensation to Boots; costs of £180 and a statutory surcharge of £20.

Finally, they ordered Mr Brown to comply with the terms of a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement.