Man was found hiding in a Wendy house with knives after what happened at Go Outdoors

A thug was found hiding in a Wendy house armed with knives after attacking a member of staff at Go Outdoors. Carl Parkinson and his accomplice David Grey assaulted the worker as a third defendant, Julie O'Brien, attempted to steal hundreds of pounds of luxury goods from the store.

He was later apprehended in possession of two weapons inside a kids' playhouse after a dad spotted the intruder lurking in his garden remotely on CCTV while his wife and children remained at home. It came after the serial offender bit a prison officer in the leg during another spell behind bars.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Monday, that O'Brien entered Go Outdoors on Rimrose Road in Bootle on May 1 this year and took three designer coats worth a combined total of nearly £700. When she attempted to leave without paying, the 55-year-old, of Sandfield Road, was challenged by staff and shouted to Parkinson and Grey - who were stationed outside the shop.

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Gerald Baxter, prosecuting, described how the latter intervened and enabled the thief to escape. O'Brien then passed the stolen loot to a fourth defendant, Stephen Cunningham, who was handed a 14-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months on an earlier occasion.

He was able to run away with the goods, but dropped two of the coats in the street. When one worker attempted to retrieve the items, Grey "pushed him up against a wall" and punched him twice to the ribs while Parkinson kneed him in the back of the thigh before lifting his jacket to reveal a knife and telling him: "Just f***ing drop it. It's not f***ing worth it."

The two men then fled with the other two coats. Parkinson, of no fixed address, would be arrested on May 4 after police were called to the home of William Holland, who observed the 40-year-old and other males in his garden remotely on his CCTV system while his partner and two children were inside the property.

When PCs arrived at the scene, they found him hiding inside a Wendy house in possession of two Stanley knives. He also fell to be sentenced over an incident at HMP Berwyn in North Wales on February 20 last year, which saw the serving prisoner bite a security officer in the thigh after he was apprehended following an argument about not being let out onto the exercise yard.

Under interview, Parkinson "denied that the robbery was anything to do with him and claimed that he was out for a walk". He has previous convictions for offences including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, battery and shoplifting.

Lloyd Morgan told the court on his behalf: "He has been in custody since the 4th of May. It is possibly his longest period of non-offending over the course of his record.

"He is making progress. He has not been taking any drugs. He has had plenty of time to think about the future. He does wish to leave offending behind him."

Grey, of Sandfield Road, has 33 convictions for 98 offences - including 30 for theft, six for drug matters and one for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 1996. John Weate, defending the 52-year-old, said: "He has shown that he can keep himself away from trouble.

"He fell into the misuse of controlled substances in his teens as a consequence of a traumatic and difficult childhood. He found it extremely difficult over the years to rid himself of that problem. He has fallen back for a relatively short period period of time. He is proud that he has cleaned his act up."

O'Brien's criminal record meanwhile shows 50 entries for 120 offences, including 69 for theft and an appearance for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply in 2021. Her counsel Julian Nutter added: "She is somebody who, in many ways, has been a victim of the world, in that she is addicted to both class A drugs and has a serious addiction to alcohol.

"She has taken positive steps to address her substance misuse. She has got to a stage in her life where the door is open for her to try and reconstruct herself.

"She will be less of a pest if she gets over this addiction, and her mind is open to address these issues. This is, of course, back in the old routine. The routine needs to be stopped."

Parkinson admitted theft, assault, two counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 42 months by Recorder Ben Douglas-Jones KC and handed a two-year serious violence reduction order.

Grey pleaded guilty to theft and assault while O'Brien admitted theft. They were both handed 18-month community orders with 12-month drug rehabilitation requirements and rehabilitation activity requirements of up to 10 days.