B&Q shoplifter waved 7-inch machete in security guard's face saying: 'I'll slash you up'
A B&Q shoplifter waved a seven-inch machete in a security guard's face saying: 'I'll slash you up'.
Aaron Harvey, 33, was stopped leaving B&Q, in Middlesbrough, on April 26, by a security guard who was on his break - but who "saw the familiar bulge in Harvey's stomach and recognised him as a shoplifter."
Teesside Crown Court heard that Harvey shouted: "You're not getting the stuff back you scruffy d******* or I'll slash you up."
Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said Harvey, who also tried to steal a Henry hoover from the store, pulled a seven-inch machete out of his waistband and began waving it around in the worker's face."
On April 26, he stole £50 worth of laundry liquid from B&M; on April 2 , he stole another £60 worth, before going on to take an additional £150 of laundry products from the same shop. On August 13, 17, and 19 he stole £366 worth of good from Sainsburys.
On May 4, the court heard Harvey targeted The One Stop Shop, on Ormesby Road, for more laundry liquid. He was caught with knives, by the police, on two occasions over the summer.
Harvey pleaded guilty to five counts of theft; using threatening words to cause alarm or distress; two counts of the possession of a knife and failing to surrender to bail - when he didn't turn up for a court hearing.
He has previous convictions for shoplifting and for burglary. In 2018, he was locked up for targeting a disabled lottery winner - as he tried to gamble away her cash.
Judge Chris Smith told Harvey, who appeared in court via video link from Durham prison: "I've got to sentence you for lots and lots of stealing. Targeting washing products because you knew you'd be able to sell them and get money to live; and money for drugs.
"A hardworking security guard was trying to stop you stealing and you pulled a machete and threatened him with it. He would have been terrified."
Harvey, of Grasby Close in Ormesby, was jailed for 25 months.
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