Pizza customer furious as delivery rider who bit off his thumb during row in Aldershot avoids jail
ITV News Meridian's Juliette Fletcher has been speaking to Stephen Jenkinson about the ordeal.
A man who had his thumb bitten off by a Deliveroo rider in a row over a pizza is "furious" after she was not given a jail sentence.
Steve Jenkinson says he has not been able to return to work as a plumber and gas engineer.
He also said the incident led to the breakdown of his relationship and caused financial ruin.
Stephen Jenkinson describes how his life has "completely changed" following the incident
Stephen Jenkinson said: “There is not one thing about my life that is the same to what it was when I went into hospital.
“I don’t have my family, I don’t have my house, I don’t have that job, I’ve had to sell my car, my van, any valuable possession I’ve ever had, I’ve had to get rid of just to keep my head above water.
“It has completely changed my life."
Jenniffer Rocha, 35, attacked Mr Jenkinson near his home in Aldershot, Hampshire on 14 December 2022.
Rocha had arrived at the wrong location, down the street from Mr Jenkinson's house.
He went to meet her, but did not take his phone with him, and an argument ensued about the delivery code he needed to provide to receive his pizza.
"I said, give me the food and I’ll go and get you the code. When that wasn’t good enough, she started swinging punches at me," he said.
"I kept pushing her at a distance and after about two or three times, my hand hit her helmet and went through the visor, and she just clamped down until it was gone.
"By that point, all the neighbours and [my partner] had heard me screaming."
Mr Jenkinson describes how the situation escalated.
Rocha had clamped her teeth around Mr Jenkinson's thumb, which he describes as feeling like a chainsaw.
Mr Jenkinson underwent 11 hours of surgery but his right-hand thumb could not be saved.
The doctors instead decided to attach part of his big toe onto the stump. He says he still struggles with every day tasks.
The incident happened in Aldershot, but Mr Jenkinson has since moved to Maidenhead.
Rocha pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm at Winchester Crown Court on 20 March.
She was sentenced to a 16-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday 5 July.
Rocha was working as a "substitute" rider on someone's Deliveroo account.
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: "This was a truly awful incident. We fully cooperated with the police on the investigation, and our thoughts are with Mr Jenkinson.
"We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and are committed to preventing misuse of our platform.
"We immediately cancelled the account that was being used at the time of this terrible incident and subsequently terminated an alternative account.
"We have strengthened our processes and recently introduced a new registration process and identity verification technology for substitute riders."
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...