A man whacked a supermarket worker with a bottle of stolen champagne, a court heard.
33-year-old Ricardo Herne was confronted by an Aldi supervisor after he was observed leaving the shop without making payment on 1 October last year.
Prosecutor Pauline Lambert told Swindon Magistrates’ Court that Simon Porter approached the defendant in the car park, shouting: “Excuse me”.
Herne replied: “Shut up, you aren’t taking this”. He proceeded to hit Mr Porter with the stolen bottle of champagne, striking him on the head.
The defendant then walked off, leaving Mr Porter injured – with blood running down his face.
As a result, Herne breached his prison licence conditions. He was returned to custody and served 20 weeks shortly after the violent assault.
Gordon Hotson, defending said that his client had been in and out of hospitals and two prisons – which resulted in a “massive mental health crash”.
He said that Herne was not getting the treatment he needed and was “in a very bad way mentally at the time”. Thought since his recent release from custody, he is now engaging with mental health teams.
District Judge Joanna Dickens said: It’s incredibly serious to hit somebody on the head at all, but hitting them on the head with any kind of blunt object it could kill them.
“The people who work in shops, who deal with shoplifting, are at the frontline of dealing with the public. They’re paid little, they’re not police officers but they’re protecting the shop from thefts.”
She imposed a 12-month community order with the requirement to complete 20 rehabilitation activity days. No compensation was awarded due to Herne having no means to pay.
