Hermitage man Josh Eaton, who terrorised Newbury town centre shoppers for years, is jailed

A ONE-MAN crime wave who causes mayhem for town centre shoppers and store staff alike has been jailed.

Josh Eaton was also made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) aimed at protecting local businesses and their customers from him.

The 27-year-old, of Queen’s Road, Hermitage, was also sentenced for his part in a “fairly sophisticated” Co-op burglary.

Alice Aubrey-Fletcher, prosecuting, described the chaos caused when a drunken Eaton went into Camp Hopson in Northbrook Street and began threatening staff.

She said: “He began making extremely derogatory remarks, leaving them shocked and deeply upset.”

He spat on the floor and continued abusing staff, the court heard, prompting a security guard, Sean Sheils, to call the police.

Ms Aubrey-Fletcher went on: “The defendant ran over to him, reached into his pocket and grabbed the phone; there was a struggle during which Mr Eaton threatened to punch Mr Sheil’s head in.

“He then threatened staff with a frying pan and caused £200 worth of damage to stock.”

Eaton tried to flee as police arrived, colliding with a shopper, Alison Prudden, who was walking with her daughter.

Police eventually caught him hiding in nearby undergrowth, clutching a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

Ms Aubrey Fletcher applied for a CBO and handed Judge Rachel Drake a bundle of statements from Newbury shop staff - “all employees of businesses in the area who have suffered at the hands of Mr Eaton.”

She said his actions over the years had had a “huge impact on businesses and their customers in Newbury.”

Eaton admitted assaulting Alison Prudden by beating her, damaging £200 worth of stock and threatening behaviour, all on August 7 last year.

A charge of attempted robbery was not proceeded with.

Eaton also has 64 previous convictions.

The court heard he was also due to be sentenced for his part, along with another defendant, David Plant, in a Mission Impossible-style raid at the Co-op in Pound Street, Newbury.

The pair, tooled up and hooded, went in through the roof – and one even helped himself to an ice cream – before making off with thousands of pounds worth of goods.

Judge Drake said described the carefully planned, 3am raid on December 2 last year as “fairly sophisticated.”

https://newburytoday.co.uk/news/raiders-access-store-through-roof-mission-impossible-style-9413358/

Ciara Moran, for Eaton, pleaded with Judge Drake to allow her client to tackle his drug addictions in the community via a drug rehabilitation requirement order.

She said he had been “self medicating” his mental health issues with ketamine, alcohol and crack cocaine.

Ms Moran went on: “He was expelled from school when very young; he finds it difficult to work with other people.”

But Judge Drake said: “The features that would justify suspending a custodial sentence just don’t apply; the blunt fact is, I’m quite satisfied that if I pass anything other than an immediate custodial sentence, I’d be setting him up to fail.”

Eaton was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, although the time spent on remand means he will be freed in less than four months.

In addition he was made subject to a three-year CBO forbidding him from entering a range of specific stores in Newbury town centre and in Pinchington Lane and requiring him to leave any store in West Berkshire immediately upon request.