"Meat thief" remanded for needle attack (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

"Meat thief" remanded for needle attack

4:54pm Wednesday 21st February 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A man known as "the meat thief" due to his consistent offending has been remanded in custody after admitting stabbing a store security guard with a needle.

Adrian Bryan was caught stealing meat from a small supermarket when he was confronted by Alan Iles.

The 31-year-old then produced a hypodermic needle and plunged it into the store worker as he tried to get away.

Bryan, of Stonesfield Close, Eastleaze, at first pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and actual bodily harm.

But he changed his plea to guilty earlier this year and now faces sentence for the two offences, which took place at Tesco Express on Friday, September 1 last year.

Rob Ross, defending him at Swindon Crown Court today, asked the sentencing hearing to be adjourned so his client could be assessed for a drug rehabilitation requirement.

And he asked the court to release his client on bail so the assessment could be carried out in the community.

While he had been in custody over the past month or so he said he had clearly put on weight, completed various programmes in prison and was drug free.

He said he was still technically on a suspended sentence order for other offences, which was imposed after the September incident.

But Judge Douglas Field remanded him in custody to Wednesday, March 7 to allow the assessment to be carried out.

And he warned Bryan a jail term was possible, saying: "My preliminary view is for custody."

Bryan has at least 43 previous convictions for similar offences and an earlier hearing was told he had been labelled "the meat thief" by workers at one supermarket.

He was appearing before magistrates in August after stealing nine packs of meat worth more than £66 from Asda Wal-Mart.

At that hearing Mr Ross told the court: "Asda have said he is known to them as the meat thief."