A Norwich shoplifter who attacked a store security guard has been told he avoided being sent to jail “by a whisker”.

Joe Brown, 33, was confronted as he attempted to prevent him from stealing a haul of chocolate from the Co-Op on Dereham Road on April 6.  

Prosecutor Josephine Jones told Norwich Magistrates’ Court that CCTV footage had shown Brown violently struggling with the guard including attempts to bite, punch and spit at him. 

Brown, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to theft and assault by beating.

READ MORE: Co-op shoplifter jailed for thefts in Norwich and Costessey

Emma Lloyd, mitigating, said he had been driven to attempt to steal the chocolate to sell out of “desperation” to raise money for train fare to Ipswich after learning of a personal bereavement. 

After being jailed for theft in October, he had been released from prison into “difficult circumstances not least having nowhere to live”, she added. 

Deputy District Judge Jacqui Appleton told him he had “an appalling record for previous thefts”. 

Suspending a six week jail sentence for 12 months and ordering him to pay £200 compensation, she added: “You have avoided jail by a whisker.”