Mansfield shoplifter carried knife during assault on Farmfoods worker

Magistrates heard David Harrison left the Oak Tree Lane store without paying for £25 of items and was followed outside by two members of staff on May 1,

Sinjin Bulbring, prosecuting, said Harrison ignored their calls to stop and jogged away. When the male shop worker caught hold of him, he shouted: “Get away from me.”

Harrison punched the man in the jaw and, during a scuffle, a kitchen knife with a three-inch blade fell from his pocket.

The female shop worker put her foot over it to stop Harrison from picking it up, but retreated when he approached.

Harrison was arrested while entering another shop, on Ling Forest Road, shortly afterwards. A number of sleeping tablets were found in his pockets and underwear.

The 33-year-old, of Osmaston Walk, Mansfield, was found not guilty of assault and making threats with a blade, but was convicted of assault, possession of a knife and possession of a class C drug, after a trial at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court.

Sentencing was adjourned to Nottingham Crown Court this week, where the court heard Harrison nine previous convictions for 19 offences.

Three are for possessing a blade in 2008, 2021, and, most recently, in May 2022, when he received a 26-week prison term, suspended for 12 months.

Ben Brown, mitigating, said: “He has an unenviable record of like offences that place him in some difficulty.

“He has been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia for some time that has been compounded by not taking his medication and illegal drug abuse.”

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC told Harrison: “Whatever reason you have for carrying knives, it had better stop now. If you ever carry one again, and I see you, you will be going to custody.”

He told Harrison he cannot keep using his mental health as an excuse for committing crime because his condition can be treated by medication.

Harrison was jailed for a year, suspended for two years, and given a two-year community order with a mental health treatment requirement.