A Verwood man has been jailed for six months after offences, including assault by beating, in the Verwood area.
Jonathan Edwin Michael Griffiths, 20 and of Verwood, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 19 May to assault by beating and breach of an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO).
He was sentenced on the same day at the same court.
The court heard how Griffiths punched a 19-year-old local man at the Tesco Express on Ringwood Road after he was confronted for shoplifting on the night of Sunday 17 May 2015.
He continued to use threatening and insulting words to the victim before throwing a beer can toward the front of the store and running off.
Police attended the incident and arrested Griffiths the following day. He was then charged on Tuesday 19 May before attending court.
Griffiths was also under a community order which he had failed to comply with.
Police Community Support Officer Robin Morgan, of Verwood and Three Legged Cross Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “This is an excellent result for the residents of Verwood who have been plagued by the behaviour of Jonathan Griffiths over a long period of time.
“This sentence is the culmination of many hours of work by Verwood’s Safer Neighbourhood Team and it sends out a very strong message that crime like this will not be tolerated in Dorset.”
This post was edited on 9 June 2015
