A robber told a brave shop manager "you've ripped my shirt" after she caught him stealing from her store.
James Karl Dean, from Birkenhead, tried to steal bags of cash, including staff wages, from the Spar in Sandylands Road, Kendal. He was caught red-handed by store manager Sharon Walker-Clement after she returned from helping a member of the public outside the shop.
Miss Walker-Clement found Dean holding three bags of cash in an upstairs office and asked him what he was doing, to which he replied: "I’ve got a knife in my pocket and I will hurt you."
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Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court how Miss Walker-Clement bravely confronted Dean, pushing him backwards before there was a prolonged struggle as she tried to wrestle back each of the bags of cash, causing them, and the fabric of Dean's top, to split. He responded by telling her: “You’ve ripped my shirt you c**t.”
Mr Evans said there was “to-ing and fro-ing”, with Dean pushing Miss Walker-Clement against a wall, causing her to bang her head, and at one stage she thought she might fall down the stairs after being shoved.
Mr Evans said: "The defendant, at that stage, really, decided enough was enough at least with the formidable resistance he was meeting, and he fled."
The court heard how Miss Walker-Clement went on to chase Dean out of the office before calling the police. Mr Evans said: “She chased him out of the office, following him.
"She called the police on her mobile, chased him through the shop and she talks about this, really emphasising the considerable courage which she showed: she was running as fast as she could due to a hip replacement. She couldn’t run very far."
As Dean ran down the road — having stolen £1,075.34, including staff wages — he said: “I’m coming back for you, you grass.”
But Dean was collared and admitted robbery on the basis he hadn’t had a knife at the time. The court heard he had 126 offences on his criminal record and was on bail at the time of the robbery.
He had been jailed in 2019 for three years after he and a partner-in-crime burgled a Cheshire country pub and were caught hiding out in a farm building.
Megan Tollitt, defending Dean, of Park Road, Birkenhead, gave mitigation at Carlisle Crown Court on Friday, August 26. Ms Tollitt said Dean has been grieving after his mother’s death. She told the court: “He was struggling to cope with being in the community having spent much of his adult life in custody.
It was in light of this struggle that he turned to crack cocaine. Ms Tollitt said: “On the date of this offence he was with his partner and baby daughter. They were going to the Lakes for a camping trip.
“They stopped there (the Spar) simply to get water for their trip. It was in no way a planned incident. Once inside he saw the entrance to the office area. He made an impulsive and, I would submit, an opportunistic decision to see if there was anything upstairs."
Ms Tollitt added: "He says he feels guilty and, he says, is ‘gutted’ about his decision and what ensued. He feels bad about (the manager) and the offence that day.”
Judge Ian Unsworth QC jailed Dean for four years. The judge said of Miss Walker-Clement: “It must have been an utterly terrifying incident for her. I would like to commend her publicly for her quite extraordinarily courageous behaviour on that date. She behaved in a way that few would and she ought to be commended for that.”
Miss Walker-Clement will be put forward for Cumbria High Sheriff’s award.
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