Cheese thief jailed after assaulting woman when she wouldn't buy a block from him

Jonathan Pritchard
By Jonathan Pritchard
Published 30th Mar 2023, 07:33 BST
A man who stole cheese from a Yorkshire store before going door-to-door to try and sell the stolen goods has been jailed for two years.

Richard Gary Jenkinson assaulted a woman who would not buy any of the cheese from him, which he had stolen from Sainsbury’s on Westbury Street in Thornaby, North Yorkshire. The 39-year-old approached the woman’s house in the village and demanded she buy some of the cheese. When she refused, he barged into her home. He then went on to assault her and stole her purse which contained £380 in cash, her bank cards and bus pass.

The 68-year-old was shaken and frightened following the incident, police said. Jenkinson, of Montrose Street in Darlington, pleaded guilty for robbery and theft charges at Teesside Crown Court this week and was jailed for two years.

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Investigating officer, DC Niamh Birdsall from Stockton CID said: “The victim was understandably shaken and extremely frightened after suffering this ordeal. No one should be attacked in their own home and the actions of Jenkinson on this day are unforgiveable.

Richard Gary Jenkinson was jailed for two yearsRichard Gary Jenkinson was jailed for two years
Richard Gary Jenkinson was jailed for two years

“We managed to locate Jenkinson by watching Stockton Borough Council’s CCTV. He is not from our area and is not a well-known to our force, however, thanks to our colleagues at the council, we managed to locate him. Without the CCTV it would have been very difficult to trace him.

“Jenkinson rightly deserves to pay for his actions by being behind bars. We hope the sentence provides some form of comfort to the victim.”

Ann Workman, director of adults and health at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, added: added: “Our CCTV operators and Enforcement Officers work very closely with the police to keep people in Stockton-on-Tees safe and I’m very pleased that their efforts have helped to secure Jenkinson’s sentence.

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“As well as the store theft, this must have been a terrifying ordeal for the victim which nobody should have to experience. We are determined to prevent those responsible for such behaviour from making people’s lives a misery and our surveillance centre operates 24/7 to ensure those who commit crime in our communities are brought to justice.”