A would-be shoplifter smashed a Dundee supermarket employee into shelving then told him he would bite him while infected with Hepatitis.
Ryan Simpson was already banned from the Milton of Craigie Asda when he entered at 3am on April 6.
After being asked to leave, Simpson said he would help himself to booze anyway, before turning violent.
Simpson was on licence, having only been released from prison five weeks earlier.
He has been jailed for 18 months.
Nightshift nightmare
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion told Dundee Sheriff Court an employee watched on CCTV as Simpson entered the shop, aware the 26-year-old was banned.
The worker told Simpson to leave but he picked up speed and said: “I’ll take what I want” as he headed for the alcohol aisle.
There, he told an employee: “Get out my f***ing way, I’ll take what I want.”
A staff member tried to stop Simpson taking a bottle of alcohol and the would-be thief responded by brandishing a bottle, before pushing the worker into shelving.
Several bottles smashed on the floor.
Simpson was restrained on his back and cut his finger, which began bleeding “profusely.”
He threatened to bite the employee – stating he had Hepatitis C – and spat at him.
Drugs ‘no excuse’
Police arrived and took Simpson to the emergency department at Ninewells where he told officers: “I’ll be honest, I did try to bite him but I didn’t do it.”
Police learned Simpson had previously had Hepatitis C but was no longer infected.
He appeared in court at a private hearing two days later and has been remanded since.
He had only been liberated from his most recent prison sentence at HMP Glenochil on February 28.
This week, he was brought from HMP Perth to court to admit acting in a threatening or abusive manner and assaulting the employee.
His solicitor Anika Jethwa said her client had been taking drugs.
“Fortunately for the complainer, the spit did not connect with him and there was no bite.
“He accepts that drugs are no excuse.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “It’s one thing to go shoplifting, it’s another thing to turn against the staff there.
“People do not expect to go to work to face that kind of behaviour and they shouldn’t have to.”
Criminal history
Simpson has a lengthy criminal record.
In November, he was jailed for raiding Beirut Mediterranean restaurant on Dundee’s Perth Road.
In 2019, he was back behind bars for stealing £135 worth of make-up from Boots and wept in the dock as he was sentenced.
While in HMP Glenochil in 2018, he used a metal pole to attack and injure a prison guard.
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