Andrew Hurtault, 42, had been out of prison for two days when he went to a Co-op in Oxford on July 9 and stole £45-worth of goods.
He struck a further two times in the following three weeks, going into Sainsbury’s with other men, selecting booze then leaving.
On July 29, he was at the Sainsbury’s supermarket in Heyford Hill when he was challenged by a store detective.
He pulled out what Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard described as a ‘cut throat razor’ and threatened the guard with it.
Defending, Jayne Wilkinson said that the detachable razor blade was not attached to the handle when the threats were made.
It was conceded that the item still had a protruding metal shaft, into which the blade fitted, making it a sharply pointed or bladed article as defined by the law.
She said her client was easily led and had struggled with mental and physical ill-health over the years. Since last being released from prison he had got accommodation at a supported housing block.
Appearing before the justices on Tuesday afternoon (August 1), Hurtault, of Rymers Lane, Oxford, pleaded guilty to three counts of shoplifting and a fourth matter of making threats with a bladed article.
Hurtault, who has almost 70 shoplifting matters on his record, was remanded in custody to be sentenced at the crown court on August 22.
Source – Oxford Mail
