East Cowes man jailed for theft and drug-induced rampage in shop

Ross Smith, 42, was jailed for 15 months at the Isle of Wight Crown Court on Friday (October 2).

Smith, of Falcon Road, East Cowes, also stole nearly £4,500 from an elderly neighbour of his mother, by using her bank card multiple times to make cash withdrawals.

Smith admitted possession of a knife in a public place, criminal damage and common assault at the East Cowes Co-op on August 9, 2020, and theft on dates between April 16 and May 16, 2020.

Simon Foster, prosecuting, said it was around 9.30pm when shop duty manager Ben Sprake came across Smith in the store, behaving in a 'bizarre fashion'.

Mr Foster said: "He took a bottle of wine off the rack, threw it in the air and watched it smash on the floor. He did it to around five other bottles.

"He then pulled out a steak knife on Mr Sprake. A member of the public did their best to calm him down but two staff, and customers, had to shut themselves in a safe room and phone the police.

"There were 20 smashed bottles when the police arrived, and it was a substantial police operation due to it being a potentially serious situation."

Mr Foster said Smith admitted stealing from the elderly woman after suspicions were raised as to how he was accessing so much money.

She was a family friend of many years and his mother had been helping her during lockdown by doing her shopping. She had her bank card and a Post-It note attached with the PIN number on, which Smith helped himself to.

Over one month he withdrew around £4,500 from the account. The money was later paid back to the victim by her bank.

Mr Foster said: "He said he had gone off the rails and went back on to heroin and crack cocaine, and took £50 at a time because he needed more money for drugs."

Smith, a father of two, had 35 convictions for 91 previous offences, including the most recent one in 2013, when he was jailed for three years for intimidating a witness.

Ross Smith

Laura Deuxberry, representing Smith, said it was a 'lamentable' record — the classic record of a drug user — but he had made significant progress in recent years with no offending.

She said: "This was a major relapse. His relationship ended and he lost his job. As a way of coping, he resorted to drugs.

"He was living in a tent taking crack cocaine and ketamine and the money was being used to fund his drug habit, not fund a lavish lifestyle.

"He puts the Co-op incident down to drug-induced psychosis — he thought the wine bottles were poisoned."

Recorder Charles Langley said: "You said you had no intention to hurt Mr Sprake and you didn't, but he did not know that. The staff were so worried and scared they locked themselves in a room.

"The offences are so serious, only a custodial sentence can be justified."