Poole Sainsbury's stabbing: Victim left needing 32 stitches

Shoplifter Connor James Eric Beckett stabbed the member of public at Sainsbury’s in Pitwines Close, Poole, last February.

The victim, a man aged in his 50s, became involved after an altercation broke out in the foyer of the store involving Beckett, along with his accomplice Jack Thomas Torpey, and supermarket staff and shoppers.

The injured man was stabbed in the stomach and collapsed to the floor, while Beckett and Torpey fled the scene.

A sentencing hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, January 29, heard the victim underwent surgery to have his spleen taken out. He will have to be on medication for the rest of his life.

• PICTURED: Shocking image taken moments before man was stabbed in Sainsbury's supermarket

He also suffered damaged blood vessels in his stomach area and required 32 stitches. Such was the extent of his injuries, he was in intensive care for a week.

Prosecuting, Robert Welling said Beckett “used serious violence” and dared staff to try and stop him from leaving with the Jack Daniel’s whiskey he had taken without paying for.

Beckett, 23 and of Bowden Road in Poole, had 30 previous convictions for 70 offences, including offences involving knives, the court heard.

Connor Beckett

Mr Welling said the incident took place “in full public view of shoppers of all ages”.

A member of staff was punched in the face by Beckett to the extent that it occasioned him actual bodily harm.

The prosecutor said the man who was stabbed and another man who pursued the defendants as they fled the store should be commended. The efforts of the latter provided material that assisted in police’s investigation to detain the guilty parties.

Mitigating for Beckett, Rob Griffiths said his client had been hit by metal shopping baskets during the altercation with staff and customers. This led to the knifeman suffering a broken cheekbone.

“He didn’t intend the serious injuries,” said Mr Griffiths. “His intent was to get away, him trying to escape.”

Beckett wrote letters to judge Recorder Nicholas Haggan QC and the stabbing victim, which he was allowed to read out during the hearing via video link from HMP Winchester.

The content of both letters had similar themes.

“I panicked and I never meant for anyone to get hurt,” said Beckett.

He added: “I have never committed a crime like this before but it is something I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life.

“I am going to retrain my brain to be an upstanding member of the community.”

Beckett described this as a “changing moment for me” and said he had “learned his lesson”.

Mr Griffiths said his client wanted to work with a charity upon his release from prison to raise awareness around the dangers of carrying knives.

In relation to the Sainsbury’s incident, Beckett had been found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and occasioning actual bodily harm after a trial. He pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and possession of a bladed article.

He was also sentenced having admitted assault by beating and theft in relation to an incident at Asda in Culliford Crescent, Poole, in December 2019.

Recorder Haggen QC sentence Beckett jailed Beckett for 12 years for the lead offence, with concurrent sentences for all other matters.

Jack Torpey

Torpey, 22, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, after admitting affray and theft.