A boozy thief accused of an armed robbery for two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale has been cleared by a jury.
Daniel Bryce, 29, denied pointing a seven-inch kitchen knife at a restaurant worker to steal two bottles of beer from the fridge.
He told a jury today: “I’m not that stupid.
“Why would I point a knife at someone for two bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale? Why would I do that?”
Jurors unanimously cleared him of robbery and having a bladed article - offences he denied - after about 20 minutes of consideration.
He was found guilty of stealing the beer, which he had already admitted along with possession of a small amount of cannabis.
He had been remanded in custody for more than three months, which a Teesside Crown Court judge thought was punishment enough.
Bryce 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.
“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.
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 and the cannabis in Bryce’s hostel room.
A man working alone in the restaurant that night said he feared for his life when 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.
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. There was no knife.
“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,” he told prosecutor Joseph Spencer in cross-examination.
“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?”
He had 67 previous offences including thefts and burglaries, the court was told.
Judge Peter Armstrong told him: “The time that you’ve spent in custody is the equivalent of a sentence of six months’ imprisonment, slightly longer perhaps.
“And that seems to me to be sufficient.”
He gave Bryce a six-month jail term, adding: “I think you’ll find you’ve already served that sentence and after the paperwork’s done, you’ll be released.
“Make sure you try and keep out of trouble in future.”
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