A woman who clawed a York shop worker like a cat after she was caught stealing has been jailed for six months.
Lisa Marie Allen, 35, punched the staff member in the face at a Tesco Express in the city centre after he caught her shoplifting, York Crown Court heard.
She then “opened her palm to make a claw and pulled it down from behind his ear to his neck”, causing scratching, said prosecutor Imogen Eastham-Brown.
The incident occurred at the Tesco store in Gillygate at about 3.20pm on 23 January after the York woman, who was in drink, had stuffed items into her bag and tried to leave without paying.
She was confronted by the staff member who was clawed down the neck for his efforts.
It was the second time in as many months that Allen, a prolific shoplifter, had attacked a shop worker.
This incident occurred on 19 December last year when she was again caught shoplifting, this time at the Co-op in The Stonebow.
As Allen placed items into a shopping bag, she was confronted by the store manager who took the bag off her.
“On her way out, she tried to take further items,” added Ms Eastham-Brown.
Unfortunately for the serial shoplifter, three Street Rangers were on hand nearby and two of them detained her. While they were waiting for police to arrive, Allen punched one of the volunteer rangers in the face.
Allen, lately of Vyner Street, was on a suspended jail sentence at the time after being convicted of sneaking drugs into prison while on remand at Low Newton women’s prison.
For that offence, she received an eight-month suspended jail term at Durham Crown Court in December 2023.
She was charged with breaching that order by committing the two assaults in York and ultimately admitted all three offences. The shoplifting allegations were withdrawn by the prosecution.
Lasered helicopter
Allen appeared for sentence at York Crown Court yesterday (Friday).
The prosecution outlined Allen’s prolific, 16-year criminal record which comprised 68 previous offences including battery, shoplifting, being drunk and disorderly, handling stolen goods, assaulting police officers, criminal damage, threatening behaviour and causing a public nuisance.
In 2019, she was accused of shining a laser at a police helicopter as it hovered over York city centre in search of a missing man. She was alleged to have shone the light from Ouse Bridge but denied a charge of endangering aircraft.
She was due to stand trial but was ultimately acquitted after the prosecution dropped the case due to insufficient evidence.
Defence barrister Eddison Flint said: “It’s not often that I start with a defendant that is asking to be sent to prison.”
He said that Allen was an alcoholic caught up in a “vicious cycle” and she had just been kicked out of her home.
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Allen she needed to “get off the drink”.
He said that prison may well be beneficial for Allen at the moment because “you need a roof over your head and some stability, and you need to be away from the drink for a long time, at least a few months”.
Allen will be celebrating her 36th birthday behind bars today (Saturday) after she was jailed for six months.