Boozy Sutton shoplifter kicked WPC

A boozed-up Sutton woman kicked a female police officer after she was caught shoplifting from Asda, magistrates heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Sarah Edwards was spotted on CCTV eating a sausage but when challenged, paid for some of the items at the self-service checkout, on February 9.

But she walked out with £38 of other items concealed on her person, and was stopped and taken to the security room, where a WPC searched her.

“She became aggressive and verbally abusive, and was commenting on the WPC’s appearance and swearing at her,” said prosecutor Robert Carr.

Edwards then kicked the officer on the left arm.

When interviewed, she said she had been drinking vodka and Red Bull at home and rated herself as a ten, on a one to ten scale of drunkeness.

Amy Godson, mitigating, said: “She hadn’t appreciated how the alcohol would affect her. She had very little to eat.”

She left Derby, where she had been involved in drugs, and moved to the Mansfield area, where she had kept out of trouble and was tackling her drug problem with the substitute Subutex, added Ms Godson.

Since leaving Derby her lifestyle has changed for the better and she is responding well with a drug team, the court heard.

Edwards, 33, of Coxmoor Road, admitted theft and assaulting a police constable, when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

The court heard her last conviction was for assaulting a police officer in June 2016, and her last shoplifting offence was in 2015.

She was given a 12 month community order, with ten days of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

She was ordered to pay compensation of £100 to the WPC and £38 to the store, as well as a government surcharge of £30.