Wine thief threatened to stab staff member with syringe at Marks & Spencer in Beverley

A shoplifter who threatened to stab a female staff member at Marks & Spencer with a syringe after being challenged about stealing six bottles of wine has been jailed.

Hull Crown Court heard how the staff member was left "terrified" and feared that the shoplifter might have Aids.

Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, prosecuting, said that staff at Marks & Spencer in Beverley became aware that a woman was walking around the store with a buggy and putting bottles of wine in it at around 1:40pm on November 9.

A female staff member then spotted Natasha Bryan, 31, leaving the store with the buggy. She followed and stopped her and saw six bottles of wine.She asked to look in the buggy and told Bryan that she believed that there were items that she had not paid for in there.

Bryan told her: "I haven't f***ing got any."The court heard how the member of staff then removed the cover. Bryan took out a syringe with a four to five-inch needle, pointed it at the woman and told her: "I'll stab you."The staff member moved out of the way and Bryan made off.

The member of staff said: "Thefts are increasing in our shop and something needs to be done. It's getting worse and worse."

Bryan was later arrested for an unrelated offence, and a needle was found on her, but it was capped. She told police that she carried a syringe for protection so that people would back off. She claimed that she pulled the syringe out so that her sister could get away.

She was able to be identified in relation to the incident at Marks & Spencer because she was wearing the same clothes she was wearing in the CCTV footage.

During a police interview, Bryan claimed that she could not remember anything about the incident because she had been drinking and had injected herself with heroin.

She had drunk champagne outside Tesco and admitted that she would have had a needle because she was a heroin user.Bryan had convictions for 51 previous offences, including five of theft between 2011 and March last year, 14 of assault between 2009 and 2021, including assaulting police, 21 of breaching court orders and two public order offences.

Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said that Bryan had suffered a drug addiction at the time of the incident."It's disgraceful behaviour and she is extremely sorry for what she has done," said Mr Shipley."It's unfortunate that there is not much positive that can be said on this defendant's behalf. Substance misuse is a real feature throughout her life and that has plagued her from the very beginning."Bryan had been "on a bender" after the death of a close friend and she went back to the home of her sister and relapsed into drug misuse."Clearly, she has an inability to control herself, as do many others in that position," said Mr Shipley. "Her previous convictions are indicative of somebody with a longstanding battle with drug addiction."It doesn't seem to be something that has ever been addressed and sufficiently dealt with. This is perhaps an escalation in her offending, with threatening someone with a needle."The court heard that Bryan had never worked and that she had not taken the opportunities that had been given to her in the past by the probation service. She had been assessed as a high risk to members of the public and she had a "horrendous" record of breaching court orders.

Natasha Bryan, 31, of Belmont Street, east Hull, admitted theft and threatening a person with a needle and was jailed for 20 months.

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