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East Belfast man jailed after stealing from hospital then assaulting Asda guard

Judge says "there can be little doubt he knew what he was doing"

Ashleigh Mcdonald, 24 Apr

A 40-year old man who launched an “unprovoked and vicious” assault on an Asda security guard was handed a four-year sentence today (Tuesday).

David Robert Thompson’s

crime

spree began when he stole items from a staff room at the Ulster Hospital and ended when he attacked the security guard after breaking into a nearby Asda store and stealing a quantity of meat.

He was handed a four-year sentence which was divided equally between prison and licence by Judge Geoffrey Miller KC.

Belfast Crown Court heard that around 6.30am on Saturday January 1, 2022 Thompson entered a porter’s office at the Ulster where he stole a computer tablet and a set of car keys. He then made his way to the nearby Asda on the

Newtownards Road

, and at 7.23am he tried to gain entry - but the store was shut.

From Whincroft House on Belfast’s Southland Dale, Thompson forced the locked door, broke into the supermarket, put on an Asda jacket and proceeded to fill a trolley with meat valued at over £800.

Thompson then pushed the trolley out through the front door and into the car park, where he was approached by an Asda security guard who told him to put the goods back.

At this point Thompson became verbally abusive then punched the security guard multiple times before fleeing the scene without the stolen meat. Police were called, CCTV from Asda was viewed and when Thompson was arrested at 8.15am, he was still in possession of the car keys stolen from the staff room at the Ulster, while the tablet was located in a hedge near the hospital.

During an interview, he told police he had no memory of the incident at the hospital and gave a ‘no comment’ response when asked about the offences at Asda.

Despite this stance, Thompson later pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Judge Miller said he had received and read a statement written by the security guard, who sustained a “significant” eye injury in the “unprovoked and vicious” attack.

The injured man said the attack and the wound he received impacted both his family and social life. Defence barrister Richard McConkey revealed Thompson suffers seizures due to a brain injury sustained in a serious assault in 2017.

Mr McConkey added that on the morning in question, Thompson was “very unwell” and was initially hospitalised before going missing from the Ulster and ultimately being arrested after the incidents at Asda.

Noting Thompson has 140 previous convictions, Judge Miller said that whilst his actions were “quite irrational”, he added “there can be little doubt he knew what he was doing both at the time when he entered the porter’s office at the Ulster Hospital and subsequently when he loaded his trolley with meat before leaving the Asda store”.