A shoplifter stuffed meat and veg down his jogging bottoms and then attacked a member of staff as he tried to get away, a court heard.

Shop assistant Angela Butcher recognised Neil Taylor as a banned customer and saw that his jogging pants were bulging with boxes.

Prosecutor Trevor Wright said when she asked for the goods back, Taylor claimed: “No, I nicked this from someone else.”

The jobless window fitter grabbed her by her wrists and shoved her before running out of the BP petrol station in Maidstone Road, Chatham, on August 27.

Taylor, 34, admitted assault by beating and shoplifting. He also admitted stealing £13 worth of meat from Sainsbury’s in Gillingham Road, Gillingham, on July 21.

Again, he tried to conceal the meat down his trousers but some fell out as he fled.

Taylor, of Hillside Road, Chatham, was jailed for 10 months.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he was subject to a suspended sentence at the time for five previous offences of shoplifting.

Eve George, defending, said the heroin addict was unable to resist temptation when his benefits stopped and he had no medication.