A shoplifter threatened to stab a store security guard with a fork after being challenged, a court has heard. Jamie Rawlinson had only been out of prison for five weeks after serving a six-year sentence for attempted robbery when he produced the weapon in his local Lidl supermarket.
Incident at Haverfordwest Lidl
Sarah John, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that at 2pm on August 3 this year a security guard working at the Haverfordwest branch of Lidl noticed the defendant loitering inside the automatic entrance door of the store. The guard got the impression he was waiting for the door to open so he could exit without going through the security gates.
The court heard that Rawlinson saw the guard was watching him and responded by reaching into his rucksack and pulling out a fork. The defendant held the implement by his face and "glared" at the guard before "charging" towards him, the court was told.
Threats and Arrest
The prosecutor said the guard asked Rawlinson to return whatever he had taken, and the defendant then started making threats to stab the shop employee. The security guard decided to leave the shop and was followed outside by the 35-year-old defendant, who continued to brandish the fork and make threats.
The defendant then made off but was followed by the security officer, who continued to ask him to return what he had taken. Rawlinson responded by handing over one of the bottles of alcohol in his backpack but then started threatening the guard again. At this point the security guard retreated back into the shop and the police were called.
Rawlinson was arrested later the same day and answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview.
Previous Convictions and Sentencing
Rawlinson, formerly of Colley Court, Monkton, Pembroke, but now of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to robbery when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 34 previous convictions for 52 offences, including public disorder, theft from shops, possession of a bladed article, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, burglary, and drug dealing.
In August 2020 he was sentenced to six years in prison for two counts of attempted robbery. The first offence saw him approaching a man who was smoking a cigarette outside his Pembroke Dock house at 11.30pm at night and grabbing him, pressing a "sharp object" into his chest, and demanding he empty his pockets.
Rawlinson was arrested shortly before midnight and after being interviewed was released at 6pm the following day. An hour later he attacked a man with autism in an alleyway, punching and kicking the vulnerable man and threatening to stab him unless he handed over his tobacco.
The court heard he was originally released on licence from that sentence in July 2022 but was subsequently recalled back to prison and served the entirety of his sentence before being released on June 28 this year, some five weeks before the Lidl robbery.
Defence and Court Outcome
Stuart John, for Rawlinson, said when the defendant was released from prison in June he was effectively homeless and ended up living in a tent in Haverfordwest. He said the support that was provided to his client on release was "insubstantial and insufficient" and said that without stable accommodation, and having spent a long time in prison, the defendant found himself associating with a negative peer group and misusing alcohol.
The advocate said the prosecution accepted that Rawlinson had a fork on him on the day in question because he was basically carrying all his possessions in his backpack and used the implement for eating food. He said his client had gone to Lidl "to commit an offence of shoplifting" and he invited the court to differentiate between the circumstances of the case and a robbery where the use of violence was always intended.
Recorder David Harris said he had read in reports before the court about Rawlinson's long-term drug misuse issues and how he latterly turned to alcohol instead. He said he was satisfied that the defendant had gone to Lidl with the intention of stealing alcohol, and said when challenged by the security guard he had produced a fork and used it as a weapon.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea, Rawlinson was sentenced to 27 months in prison. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
