A HEROIN addict attempted to rob a supermarket deputy manager of coffee, threatening to stab him with the screwdriver end of a socket spanner.

Jason Edge attempted to steal five jars of coffee from the Co-op in The Bull Ring, St John’s, Worcester but met his match when Alex Bremer clung onto the criminal’s bag and refused to let go.

The 50-year-old defendant of Drake Avenue, Dines Green, Worcester, admitted attempted robbery at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday following the incident shortly after 6am on Thursday, January 23 this year. Michael Aspinall, prosecuting, said Mr Bremer noticed Edge walk into the shop with a large bag over his shoulder and his face covered.

Mr Bremer found him placing coffee jars into the bag and told him to put them back before he grabbed the bag. Edge produced a socket spanner with the screwdriver protruding from between his middle and third fingers and said: “Let go or I will stab you!”

However, Mr Bremer kept hold of the bag and Edge eventually left, leaving the bag and coffee behind.

Police found him nearby in Bromyard Road. He told officers he intended to sell the coffee to pay for his heroin addiction and denied making any threats. Edge had 19 previous convictions for 52 offences dating back to 1981, including thefts and a robbery and attempted robbery for which he was jailed for 45 months in 2003.

Mark Thompson, defending, said Edge had been addicted to street heroin for many decades and ‘it’s remarkable he’s still with us’. “This is a man who has managed to free himself (from addiction) in the past. That is given credibility by the gaps in his offending” he said.

His client suffers from ‘severe epilepsy’ which has led to seizures and falls. “It’s led to him having a number of falls and head injuries which he believes has affected him neurologically.”

Judge Martin Jackson said: “This was shoplifting that got completely out of hand when you produced a socket spanner and used it to threaten Mr Bremer.”

He sentenced Edge to 20 months in prison suspended for two years, placed him on a 12 month drug rehabilitation activity course and excluded him from the Co-op for 12 months. He was ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation days and pay a £170 surcharge.

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