A man on trial accused of using a knife to steal two bottles of beer told a jury today: “I’m not that stupid.”
Daniel Bryce denied pointing a seven-inch knife at a restaurant worker, whom he claimed was lying about him.
He said: “Why would I point a knife at someone for two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale? Why would I do that?”
Bryce, 29, said he was walking past the Taj Mahal on Yarm Lane, central Stockton when the beer “caught my eye” through the window.
He told jurors: “Stupid idea. I decided to walk in, pick a couple of bottles up and walk out.
“I’d had quite a bit to drink. I had money in my pocket as well. I don’t know why I did it.
“I was bending down to pick a couple of bottles in the fridge. I heard someone shout. I thought it came from above me.
“Someone was shouting, ‘Oi.’ I just turned and ran out once I heard the voice.
“I didn’t have a knife. I didn’t have nothing at all,” he said to his barrister Mark Styles at Teesside Crown Court.
He said he had drunk “about eight cans” and CCTV footage showed him “zig-zagging” down the street as he walked back to his home on Hartington Road.
One car had to brake as Bryce wandered up the middle of the road at one point, the court heard.
A few minutes after he arrived home, the police arrived and found two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale in Bryce’s hostel room.
The man who was working alone in the restaurant that night said he feared for his life.
He said a hooded man came in, pointed a knife at him and said “don’t move” before stealing the beer at about 8.10pm on November 29 last year.
He said he followed the alleged robber outside before coming back into the restaurant and calling the police.
Prosecutor Joseph Spencer put the Crown’s case to Bryce in cross-examination.
Bryce said: “I would never use a knife. Why would I need to use a knife?
“I walked in, picked them up and ran out. He wasn’t where he said he was. He wasn’t next to the fridge.”
He said he did not know the restaurant worker and had no bad blood with him.
“I went over it many times trying to think why he’s said this,” he added.
“There was no knife. He’s made it up.
“I didn’t confront him. I didn’t speak to him. I didn’t even look at him.
“I’m not lying, mate. I’m telling the truth. You can try and catch us out but I’m not lying.
“I’m not going to go in with a knife. I’m not that stupid. Why would I use a knife to pinch two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale?
“If he was scared for his life, why would he chase us? He’s the one lying, mate.”
Bryce denies robbery and having a bladed article.
Proceeding
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