A THIEF has been jailed after stealing meat, sweets and wine, and assaulting a police officer while he was in custody.

Johnathon Bushell entered guilty pleas to one count of theft from a shop and one count of assault by beating of an emergency worker when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

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The court heard from prosecutor Camila Toscano that the 43-year-old, who was represented by Chris Read, had stolen cold meat, sweets and a bottle of wine from Aldi in Ross-on-Wye on June 12, and then assaulted a police officer while he was remanded in custody in Hereford on the same day.

The stolen products were worth £23.89.

Bushell, of River View, Ross-on-Wye, was jailed for a total of four weeks for the offences, made up of two concurrent prison sentences of three weeks and four weeks. Magistrates chose to imprison Bushell because the offences were said to be so serious that only a custodial sentence was justified, as one of the offences happened while in custody.