A LATE night shoplifting expedition resulted in an off-duty member of staff at a village store being injured as he tried to stop one of the thieves.

Dean Mahan and Thomas Neville Langley were both jailed for their respective roles in the incident at the Sainsbury’s Local branch, in Brandon, near Durham, on December 29 last year.

Durham Crown Court heard two members of staff were immediately suspicious when the pair entered the Grove Road store at 10.30pm.

Mahan remained near the doorway as Langley went into the display area and picked up three ten-can packs of lager.

Nigel Soppitt, prosecuting, said Langley then headed in the direction of the door, but was confronted by an off-duty storeman, who happened to be present at the time.

He blocked Langley’s route from the premises and a struggle followed, but Mahan then entered and shoved the off-duty staff member in the back.

Mr Soppitt said this thrust him into a display cabinet, striking his head off the corner of a shelf, before falling to the ground.

He suffered a 3in-long gash in the back of his head which was treated with eight staple stitches being inserted at hospital.

The victim also suffered damaged ankle ligaments, and other cuts, and was unable to return to his usual job in the store for several months.

Mr Soppitt said he felt uneasy working back at the premises and asked to be transferred to another branch, while he also suffered flashbacks and nightmares as a result of the incident, fearing it may happen again.

Mahan and Langley were recognised from cctv and were subsequently arrested, but made no comment when interviewed.

They were charged with robbery, but on the day of their scheduled trial at the court, in July, Mahan admitted unlawful wounding and Langley admitted common assault.

Both also pleaded ‘guilty’ to theft of the lager.

The prosecution accepted those pleas and both have been sentenced in separate hearings in recent weeks.

Twenty-five-year-old Langley, of Turnbull Close, Gilesgate, Durham, who was in breach of a suspended prison sentence, was last month jailed for a total of 19 months.

Appearing via video link, yesterday (Thursday September 3), 29-year-old Mahan, of The Larches, Esh Winning, near Durham, was jailed for a year.

Matthew Crowe, mitigating, said it was an impulsive act, shoving the off-duty staff member when he saw him grappling with Langley, but with no intention to cause the resulting consequences.

Jailing him, Judge Simon Hickey, said in his view both went to the store intending to steal the lager, at a time when it would be relatively quiet, with few members of staff on duty.

The judge also praised the victim for his “public-spirited” response, trying to block Langley’s path from the premises.