A SHOPLIFTER who had stolen booze and food from a Carlisle Co-op store used a screwdriver to threaten a worker who challenged him.  

At the city’s crown court, David Scott Pattinson, 31, appeared via a video link alongside his co-defendant Dale Graham 38, as they both formally denied carrying out a robbery at the Blackwell Road store in Currock.

The prosecution accepted their not guilty pleas to that allegation after accepting the men did not use or threaten violence.

But the defendants did admit some offences. Pattinson, of Baird Road, Carlisle, admitted the following crimes, all committed on April 17 this year:

* Stealing a 125cc Lexmoto scooter worth £1,700.

* Stealing alcohol and groceries from the Blackwell Road Co-op.

* And affray, using or threatening unlawful violence against a person - the shopworker who challenged Pattinson, making the man fear for his personal safety.

Graham, of no fixed address, admitted jointly stealing the moped with Pattinson. An earlier hearing was told that the moped was taken from the St Nicholas Gate Retail Park on the same day while the owner was at work.

Pattinson is also due to be sentenced for stealing TVs on two consecutive days in April.

Explaining the decision to not proceed with the robbery charge, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court: “The crown have reviewed the matter and it’s clear that violence was not used and not threatened.

“So instead, the crown is accepting a plea to theft.”

Mr Rogerson said that after the groceries and alcohol were stolen from the Co-op store on the morning in question, a worker had followed Pattinson out of the store. The man later reported seeing Pattinson waving a knife "in his direction" as the defendant walked backwards and away from the worker. 

Police later searched the defendant’s coat and in the pocket, they found not a knife but a screwdriver, said the prosecutor.

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Mr Rogerson said the guilty plea to affray was accepted on the basis that it was the screwdriver that was waved  at the shop worker “in a threatening manner”.

As the hearing was ending, Graham repeatedly asked the judge for an indication of the sentence he is likely to be given. Earlier, the judge had remarked that the criminal history of both men meant custody was invevitable. 

When told Graham would not be sentenced immediately because of unresolved legal issues, Pattinson said: “I think that’s unfair.”

After thanking the defendant for his "helpful observations," the judge remanded both men in custody and said they will be sentenced together in about a month’s time, though the exact date has yet to be agreed.

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