Joleen Maughan slapped a worker in the face while taking about £100 worth of alcohol from the store.
A persistent Peterborough shoplifter who threatened Tesco employees with a needle before hitting one in the face has been jailed.
On March 20, Joleen Maughan, 37, entered Tesco in Serpentine Green, Hampton, with a duffel bag and concealed four bottles of vodka valued £96 before leaving without paying.
Staff confronted Maughan on her way out of the business, but she refused to stop and threatened them with a needle before striking one of them in the face.
Police were contacted, and they investigated the neighbourhood until discovering and detaining Maughan on Leaf Avenue in Hampton.
She was charged with assault and stealing from a shop before appearing at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on March 21, but was released on court bail.
Almost two weeks later, on April 2, CCTV operators saw Maughan enter Boots in Queensgate and then leave with two Ted Baker giftboxes.
CCTV continued to monitor her walk to a shop on Park Road, where she was arrested by the Peterborough City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) on suspicion of shoplifting and violating a CBO issued in July last year, which barred her from Queensgate Shopping Centre and Asda in Rivergate.
She was later accused in court with shoplifting and violating a conditional bond.
Maughan, of Redmile Walk in Dogsthorpe, appeared at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (4 April), when she was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after admitting all charges.
She was also sentenced to pay £50 in compensation to the victim of the assault.
- PC Ruth Watson of the city centre NPT welcomed the sentencing, saying: Assaults and abuse against store staff are reprehensible, and no one should be subjected to such conduct, especially in the workplace.
The CBO offers us more power when it comes to Maughan’s offending because if she is discovered to be in violation of the order, we can arrest her and bring her back to court.
