Red Bull robber jailed by Leeds judge who told him: 'The public are sick and tired'
A Red Bull robber who stole up to 40 cans at a time has been jailed after he lashed out at a shopkeeper who tried to stop him.
Crack-cocaine addict Nathan Harrison repeatedly stole the energy drinks from the Shell garage on Bondgate in Pontefract.
He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after the attack on the worker lifted the charge from merely shoplifting to a more serious offence of robbery.
He was also given a restraining order banning him from the premises, among others.
Judge Robin Mairs told the 33-year-old: “These are the sorts of offences that the public are sick and tired of, where thieves brazenly go into shops to help themselves. And it’s serious.
“The cost is passed onto the decent people who pay for the things they want.”
The court heard that Harrison walked into the Shell garage at around 8.35am on October 1 last year, and began loading up a rucksack with £26 worth of Red Bull.
Approached by the worker and challenged, he told her: “I don’t f****** think so.”
When she tried to prevent him leaving, he lashed out with his arm, swinging it and connecting with the woman’s face and shoulder. He then made off with the cans.
The incident was caught on the shop’s CCTV and he was identified and arrested a week later. He gave a no-comment interview.
Harrison, of Southgate, Pontefract, admitted the robbery, along with four shop thefts.
This included two incidents in which he took 40 and then 30 cans of Red Bull from the garage shop, and stole £132 worth of dog leads from Jollyes pet shop in Pontefract.
Harrison, who appeared in court over a video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand, he also admitted criminal damage to a window at Eastbourne Terrace in Pontefract.
Mitigating, Andrew Stranex said the breakdown of Harrison’s relationship had led him to his use of crack-cocaine.
He said: “He makes no attempt to excuse or hide behind what he did.
“Clearly he was in a mess. He was stealing to support his use of drugs.”
He said Harrison was a qualified joiner and his time on remand has allowed him to “come to terms” with his position.
Judge Mairs gave him a 27-month sentence. The restraining order bans from the Shell garage, B&M, Jollyes and Tesco in Pontefract, as well as their car parks, for the next 10 years.