A prolific thief who brandished an uncapped syringe in front of a supermarket manager as he was challenged for shoplifting has been jailed and banned from a host of stores in Workington and Whitehaven.
James Stewart Thompson, 43, was seen inside Whitehaven’s Tesco at around 8.20pm on May 30.
Thompson was suspected of trying to steal three bottles of vodka which, on becoming aware he was being watched, he put down in different areas of the premises while walking around.
A store manager, believing Thompson had more stolen items in a rucksack, challenged him as he left. Thompson’s speech was slurred and he sat for 10 minutes on a pharmacy chair before getting up and saying to the manager: “What are you going to do when I pull a blade on you?”
Prosecutor Steven Ball told Carlisle Crown Court: “He then pulled out from his pocket a red and orange syringe, removing the cap from it. He went towards the store manager.”
As the manager kept his distance, warning customers to stay out of the way, Thompson took his chance to leave. But he was stopped by police officers a short distance away.
Despite initial denials, Thompson admitted theft and threatening a person with a sharply pointed article when brought to court.
In an impact statement, the store manager suggested his main fear had been for customers. “He has been working as a manager for 20 years,” said Mr Ball. “He has come across threatening behaviour but he has never been threatened with a weapon like this.”
The court heard Thompson was a prolific shoplifter who had been jailed for 30 weeks in November last year. He had burgled a clothing shop and was found wearing a jacket he’d just stolen.
Just days before the Tesco offences, Thompson, of Peter Street, Whitehaven, was made subject to a 12-month community order for another shop theft.
Defence lawyer Jeff Smith conceded: “Mr Thompson is a criminal but more than anything else he is a nuisance. His life has been destroyed by misuse of alcohol, by an inability to control alcohol and a need for alcohol.”
Thompson had been in custody on remand and his hope, said Mr Smith, was to “stay dry” when eventually released.
Thompson was jailed for five months by the sentencing judge, Recorder Julian Shaw, who called him a persistent offender and a nuisance.
In a bid to curb the defendant’s criminal activity, the judge also imposed a five-year criminal behaviour order which bans Thompson from visiting any premises included in the Workington and Whitehaven Shopwatch schemes.
