Llandudno...Shoplifter's accomplice pretended to have heart attacks to distract staff during crime spree!
That old distraction chestnut! Not nice for anyone to have something like this to happen, and to use illness as a way to do it.
Shopkeepers are suffering enough as it is and are barely hanging on!
And what a poor sentence as well!
A shoplifter on a crime spree used an accomplice who pretended to have heart attacks to distract staff. Paul Williams struck eight times in Conwy County.
When the 30-year-old was caught, he assaulted three off-duty police officers.
He admitted a string of offences and a judge at Caernarfon Crown Court jailed him for a total of 14 months. One accomplice has already been prosecuted.
Prosecutor Nicola Williams told the court the offenders struck at three Co-op shops on New Year's Day.
She said a David Smith pretended to have a heart or angina attack and staff duly rushed to give him first aid. Williams and two others would then fill bags and leave without paying.
This happened at Co-op shops in Rhos-on-Sea at 4.30pm, Deganwy at 5.30pm and Llandudno Junction at 5.55pm that day, with goods totalling more than £580.
There were further incidents when Williams worked alone, the court heard.
In one incident, on January 23, Elwyn Jones, an off-duty security guard, was at the Co-op in Craig-y-Don, Llandudno. He saw Williams hide an energy drink in his jacket. It fell out and Williams put it back.
But Mr Jones approached Williams, who was found to be carrying coffee and laundry detergent. When Williams was told police had been called, he became irate. He was wrestled to the ground but tried to bite Mr Jones' hand, said the prosecutor.
In a further incident, Williams walked out of Asda in Llandudno with a TV without paying on April 3, said the prosecutor.
Three off-duty police officers followed him but he spat at them.
Richard Edwards, defending, said his client had been abusing alcohol and heroin at the time of the offences. He suggested he deserved credit for his guilty pleas.
He felt animosity towards the police because he was once Tasered and fell down a stairwell. This resulted in a head injury and metal plates were inserted in his head in hospital, said Mr Edwards.
The judge Her Honour Nicola Saffman jailed Williams for 12 months for assaulting one emergency worker, and for 12 months and eight month terms for assaulting two other emergency workers, with both running concurrently.
He received another month in prison for assaulting Mr Jones, to run concurrently and two months for each of the eight shoplifting offences, with one such term being consecutive and seven being concurrent.
A terrible thing to do, to fake a heart attack, think of the poor people trying to help, and all to steal. shocking
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