Shoplifter pulled out manager’s teeth when he tried to stop him running off

A fleeing shoplifter reached into the store manager’s mouth and pulled out his front teeth in a horrific attack.

Ben Stead, 28, stuck his fingers into Morrison’s manager Craig Thomas’s mouth – who caught him stealing £325 worth of alcohol in Ebbw Vale, South Wales.

The thief was trying to walk out of the store with a trolley full of unpaid alcohol when he was confronted in December 2021.

Prosecutor Peter Donnison told how Stead threatened: ‘Come near me and I’ll stab you.’

The lawyer added: ‘He then became violent and there was a physical struggle between them.

‘While struggling on the floor, Stead bent his fingers right back and then proceeded to put his hand into his mouth and he pulled at his teeth causing them to break – his front facing teeth were pulled out.

‘He also put his finger into Mr Thomas’s eye and applied pressure. Mr Thomas described the pain as excruciating.’

As well as losing his teeth, Mr Thomas suffered a broken finger and was bleeding from the ear and mouth.

Following the attack, he was forced to leave his job causing him a ‘significant decrease in salary’.

Stead, of Rhymney in Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and theft.

He was jailed for two years and eight months at Cardiff Crown Court.

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