A man who robbed a Morrisons store while wearing Joker face paint and threatening staff with a knife has been jailed for 40 months. Peter Brathwaite, 31, pleaded guilty to robbery at Newcastle Crown Court after the incident at The Viking Centre, Jarrow, on July 8.
Robbery at Jarrow supermarket
Brathwaite entered the store at around 3.15pm while resembling Batman's archenemy, spooking shoppers including women and children before trying to leave with a trolley full of groceries. Female members of staff approached him and told him he had to pay.
Brathwaite, of Wilkinson Court Tower, Jarrow, replied: "Speak to your manager," before winking at them. Kevin Wardlaw, prosecuting, said: "Staff took hold of the trolley and a male security staff member approached him. He produced a folding knife and threatened staff with the six inch blade."
Threats and arrest
The court heard that Brathwaite also said: "Do you want to get stabbed" and "do you want to die?". Wardlaw added that he then pointed the knife towards staff, causing them to back away. This gave Brathwaite the opportunity to push the trolley out of the store and towards his home nearby.
A neighbour approached him and asked what he was doing, before the 31-year-old Joker impersonator "stared wide-eyed" at him. Police were called immediately and officers rushed to the scene where Brathwaite was arrested. They also found the knife and stolen supermarket items.
Victim impact and sentencing
A female staff member at Morrisons explained in a victim impact statement that the robbery had caused her anxiety and stress. She said she now fears having to deal with male shoplifters. She said: "I keep thinking about the moment when the offender with the painted face asked if I wanted it. He looked so frightening, his eyes were bulging. I believed I was going to be stabbed."
She added that she was concerned about the impact on customers, including children, explaining: "I felt threatened and I'm sure they did too. The robbery was simply terrifying."
Robin Turton, defending, said he was "in a bad place at the time" but has improved while remanded in custody. He added: "He fully understands how frightening it must have been. He is deeply sorry and ashamed. He has schizophrenia, which is linked to his offending. He is willing and ready to comply with treatment, as he has been in the hospital wing in Durham."
Brathwaite, who has no previous convictions, was high on drink and drugs at the time of the robbery. Recorder Jamie Hill KC said: "On this particular day you were acting to a large extent while high on drink and drugs. This was a terrifying incident, threatening to stab several people who were trying to do their jobs. I'm sure those people who were there at Morrisons will never forget it. There were four people threatened with the knife and others who would have been afraid of it. It would have been a deeply disturbing event."
