A Cambridge shoplifter who threw a pen at a shop staff’s face has been jailed.

On 5 June, Daryl Stevenson, 37, entered John Lewis in Downing Street, Cambridge, where he picked up a bottle of Rum worth £29 and went to leave the shop without making any attempt to pay.

He was confronted by shop staff but ran out the shop, throwing a pen which narrowly missed their head and made off with the items.

Stevenson, of East Road, Cambridge, was arrested by neighbourhood officers in High Street, March, on June 10 after Costa Coffee called in a man causing a disturbance throughout the day and had stolen two sausage sandwiches worth a total of £7.98.

He was later charged with four counts of theft from a shop after he was found to have also stolen 20 shirts worth £300 from Hollister in the Grand Arcade, Cambridge, on May 31 and a bottle of Captain Morgan rum worth £24 from Sainsburys in Mill View, March on 10 June.

He appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (June 12), where he was sentenced to 34 weeks in prison, which includes the activation of a suspended sentence that he was issued in February after being convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cocaine.

PC Lukasz Borsut, who investigated, said: “No one should be made to feel intimidated or put in danger at work and I am glad this is being reflected through Stevenson being sentenced to some time in jail.

“Our work to tackle retail crime across the city is ongoing, and we will continue to work tirelessly to arrest and put before the courts anyone committing retail related offences.”