The moment a man assaulted a teenage Big Issue seller who challenged him for shoplifting has been caught on CCTV.
Ashley Stephen Payne, 32, of Fishponds, attacked a 19-year-old woman in a "cowardly and unnecessary act of aggression" when she challenged him for stealing from a local store.
Payne was sentenced at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Monday, November 15, after admitting 23 offences including assault on the woman, a separate assault on a 41-year-old shop worker, and 16 counts of theft.
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He has been jailed for 44 weeks.
All the offences were committed between August 30 and November 14 this year in the Fishponds and Staple Hill areas.
Sgt Andrew Bradshaw, of the Fishponds Neighbourhood Policing team, said: “We’re pleased with the custodial sentence given to Payne by the court for the series of offences he committed in our local community over a two-month spell.
“The attack on the 19-year-old woman was a particularly cowardly and unnecessary act of aggression – all because she challenged him for stealing from a local store.
“It’s taken persistence and hard work by the neighbourhood team and our colleagues in the Detainee Investigation Team to investigate this series of offences and gather the evidence needed to secure these convictions.”
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