Havant woman jailed for shoplifting and spitting, stamping and kicking at emergency workers

Lauren Elliott, 29, of Carberry Court in Havant, stole £210.66 of goods from a Spar store and assaulted the emergency services workers on Worldham Road in Havant.

Elliott was arrested and charged on Thursday after police received reports of shoplifting in the Baybridge Road area. “Officers from the local policing teams deployed and began a search of the area, where they located Elliott at the SPAR shop on Worldham Road with a bag of stolen goods,” a police spokesperson said. “When officers proceeded to arrest Elliot, in an attempt to resist, she kicked four officers, stamped on one of their feet and spat at two of them.”

Elliott appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where she pled guilty to, and was sentenced for, one count of theft from a shop and four counts of common assault of an emergency worker. She was jailed for 14 weeks due to the “serious” nature of the crimes.

Sergeant Darren Woolvin said: “No one should be subjected to violence in the workplace, and we will not tolerate anyone who is disorderly and abusive, be that towards retail staff, or the emergency workers who respond to these incidents.

“Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary continually seeks to bring people responsible for committing crimes to justice. The officers assaulted during this incident were simply doing their job and looking to protect the community.

“We are glad to see that the judge acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and hope that it demonstrates that this behaviour will not be tolerated in our communities, or towards its emergency workers.”