Shoplifter who assaulted shopworker in Bulwell ‘sailed very close’ to jail
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Thomas Fletcher walked out of Heron Foods, on Main Street, with a £5.49 four-pack of beer and, when the woman tried to stop him, he grabbed her top with one hand and swung her "from side to side", on July 21, last year.
Stuart Pattinson, prosecuting, said Fletcher also hurled a can of beer at a nearby delivery worker, bruising him.
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Hide AdHeron Foods staff locked the door and he was arrested shortly afterwards.


Nottingham Crown Court heard the offences put Fletcher in breach of a community order imposed in October 2023, for battery, criminal damage and threats.
Bianca Brasoveanu, mitigating, said: "It is clear his offending is underpinned by psychiatric difficulties and a gambling addiction which exacerbates those symptoms.
"It is clear that the key for him to stay out of trouble is his continuing cooperation."
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Hide AdJudge Michael Auty remarked: "He is sailing very close to the wind. He couldn't complain if we sent him to prison today.
"Replacing one community order with another community order when he has breached the first order doesn't seem like justice."
Fletcher, 37, of Greystoke Drive, Nottingham, admitted assault by beating, shop theft, and breaching a community order.
“Shop workers are not there to be hurt or abused,” the judge told him. “They are entitled to feel safe at work and they're entitled to the protection of the courts.”
Fletcher received a two-year community order with a mental health treatment requirement, ten rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work.