News / Crime
Footage shows shoplifter’s ‘cowardly’ attack on Big Issue seller
A man has been jailed for what police have described as a “cowardly and unnecessary act of aggression” against a teenager who challenged him for shoplifting.
Ashley Stephen Payne, 32, from Fishponds, was sentenced at Bristol Magistrates’ Court after admitting 23 offences, including the attack on the 19-year-old woman, a separate assault on a 41-year-old shop worker and 16 counts of theft.
He has been jailed for 44 weeks for the offences, which were committed between August 30 and November 14 this year in the Fishponds and Staple Hill areas.
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After the sentencing, police released footage of the assault on the 19-year-old Big Issue seller outside a Fishponds shop.
The CCTV video, shown with her consent, shows Payne striking the teenager to the ground before walking off as others rushed to her aid.
Speaking after the court verdict, sergeant Andrew Bradshaw, of the Fishponds neighbourhood policing team, said; “We’re pleased with the custodial sentence given to Payne by the court for the series of offences he committed in our local community over a two-month spell.
“The attack on the 19-year-old woman was a particularly cowardly and unnecessary act of aggression – all because she challenged him for stealing from a local store.
“It’s taken persistence and hard work by the neighbourhood team and our colleagues in the detainee investigation team to investigate this series of offences and gather the evidence needed to secure these convictions.”
Ashley Stephen Payne, 32, from Fishponds, was jailed for 44 weeks – photo provided by Avon and Somerset Police
Main image from footage provided by Avon and Somerset Police
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