A SHOPLIFTER who threatened supermarket staff with a bottle he had just stolen from the store was tackled to the ground by a retired policeman.
And after Terence Belgrave reached into his pocket, it was found he also had a knife on him, Warwick Crown Court has heard.
Belgrave (53) of Rotherham Road, Coventry, was jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to charges of theft, possessing a bladed article and using threatening behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence.
Prosecutor Scott Coughtrie said on September 22 a security officer at the Morrison’s supermarket in Holyhead Road, Coventry, was dealing with an incident involving a female shoplifter.
As she was leaving she dropped a case of wine she had taken, and the security officer then saw Belgrave, who he knew was banned from the store, go over and take one of the bottles.
The manager and duty manager followed him out, but on the car park Belgrave began waving the bottle, threatening: “If you come near me, I’ll smash it over your head.”
But the incident was seen by retired police officer Patrick Kerwin who intervened, telling Belgrave to put the bottle down and then, helped by staff members, wrestled him to the ground.
During the struggle Belgrave put his hand in his pocket, so they pulled his arm away, and in the pocket was a pair of glasses and a knife.
He was restrained until the police arrived, and when he was arrested Belgrave admitted stealing the wine and shouting and swearing at the staff, but denied threatening them or brandishing the bottle.
Belgrave, who had previous convictions for violence and possessing offensive weapons, added that he carried the knife for protection, his brother having been murdered 20 years ago.
Richard Gibbs, defending, said Belgrave, a father-of-14, was someone who was ‘very troubled,’ and his reactions were ‘always rooted in emotion rather than reason.’
Jailing Belgrave, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told him: “The carriage of knives in a public place is dangerous, and when one is carried by someone who is in drink, it is more serious.”
