Alcohol thief assaulted shop staff

A thief who pushed a security guard as he fled with a bottle of vodka has been jailed.

Brendan Keating, 25, entered Waitrose, in Mayor’s Walk, West Town, Peterborough, on 4 November and hid the bottle in his trousers. As he was leaving the shop, he pushed a security guard who had confronted him before running off.

He was arrested a week later in North Street, Peterborough city centre, after being spotted by CCTV operators who knew he was wanted.

Keating, of no fixed address, was jailed for 13 weeks at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (12 November) after admitting the theft and assault, together with another theft at the same Waitrose on 8 November, and a theft from TK Maxx, in Queensgate shopping centre, on 5 November.

PC Danielle Hunt, who investigated, said: “Retail crime such as assault on shop staff is an issue we’re focused on tackling, but we need your reports in order to identify those involved, arrest them, and put them before the courts.”