A Leicestershire shop thief threatened a security guard with a syringe needle.
Melvin Freeman, 40, of Oakham Drive, Coalville, denied an offence of common assault, but was convicted following a recent trial at Leicester Magistrates' Court.
He had earlier admitted an offence of shop theft.
Freeman appeared at the same court for sentencing on Thursday, 23rd January 2025.
At the sentencing hearing he also admitted failing to surrender to the custody of the court for his trial, which took place in his absence.
Magistrates heard that 40-year-old heroin addict was stopped by staff as he tried to walk out of the Co-Op, Cropston Drive, Coalville, with £25 worth of chocolate.
Staff were forced to release Freeman when he threatened one of them, a security guard, with a syringe needle.
Freeman denied having threatened anyone, but as he failed to attend his trial the matter proceeded on the prosecution's evidence.
Sukhy Basi, prosecuting, told the court that Freeman had previous convictions in relation to 19 offences.
Amena Aijaz, mitigating, told the court that her client had felt threatened by the security guard.
She said: "He was walking out with those chocolates and the security guard had grabbed him by his hood and dragged him to the back room.
"He felt he was being strangled. The CCTV does show the security guard using quite a lot of force against Freeman."
Asked why her client had produced the syringe needle at staff, Ms Aijaz said that he had been asked to empty his pockets and obligingly did so.
Asked why her client had failed to attend for trial, she said: "He failed to attend court because Mr Freeman is a class A drug user. On this occasion he didn't feel too great after he had taken some heroin."
The court also heard that Freeman was subject to a community order imposed by the Crown Court in relation to two offences of possession of a bladed article.
The Probation Service had noted his poor level of compliance, having attended only two out of eighteen appointments, and stated an unwillingness to work with Freeman in the future.
Ms Aijaz said that her client felt "set up to fail" by the order, but had been clean of heroin for a fortnight. In the circumstances, she asked Magistrates to consider a conditional discharge.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Magistrates were of the view that Freeman's offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. However, given his tentative steps towards recovery, they elected to suspend the custodial term.
Freeman was sentenced to five weeks' custody suspended for 12 months.
He was also ordered to pay £100 towards prosecution costs and £154 surcharge.
Robert Boden, Presiding Justice, said: "Obviously you are clearly not co-operating with the existing community order. The reason we're not imposing an immediate custodial sentence is your solicitor said you had been making an effort recently."
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