Supermarket cheese thief attacked woman who refused stolen goods

Richard Jenkinson swiped blocks of cheese and then assaulted a woman who refused to buy it

A thief who attacked a woman when she refused to buy cheese he had stolen from a supermarket has been jailed.

Richard Jenkinson, 39, of Montrose Street, Darlington, assaulted and stole from his 68-year-old victim when she rejected his demands.

He barged into her home and took £380, her bank cards and bus pass, leaving her "extremely frightened".

Jenkinson pleaded guilty to robbery and theft and was sentenced to two years at Teesside Crown Court on Monday.

He was in breach of bail conditions when he swiped several blocks of cheese from Sainsbury's on Westbury Street in Thornaby in July.

Jenkinson then approached the woman's home the town and attacked her when she refused to hand over money for the contraband.

Following sentencing, investigating officer Det Con Niamh Birdsall, of Cleveland Police, said: "The victim was understandably shaken and extremely frightened after suffering this ordeal. No-one should be attacked in their own home and the actions of Jenkinson are unforgiveable.

"We managed to locate Jenkinson by watching Stockton Borough Council's CCTV. He is not from our area and is not a well-known to our force, however, thanks to our colleagues at the council, we managed to locate him.

"Without the CCTV it would have been very difficult to trace him.

"We hope the sentence provides some form of comfort to the victim".

Ann Workman, of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, said its CCTV operators worked closely with police.

"This must have been a terrifying ordeal for the victim which nobody should have to experience," she said.

"We are determined to prevent those responsible for such behaviour from making people's lives a misery."