A PUB burglar has been branded as mean by a judge after he stole charity boxes and staff tips.

Stacey Mansell raided four businesses in South Devon during a month-long crime spurred by his need to pay for a drug habit.

He stole a box containing more than £100 in staff tips at one restaurant and emptied the till and charity boxes at the Olde Well House, where he failed to force open the cash box of the juke box.

He injured a Tesco shop assistant by charging past her as she tried to stop him stealing a six-bottle case of wine and used a rock to smash the glass door of a convenience shop.

Mansell, aged 46, of Merritt Road, Paignton, admitted two burglaries, two thefts, resisting arrest and assault by battery and was jailed for a year and two months by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ‘Some of these offences are really serious and mean, such as stealing a tips jar which was for low paid members of staff who work hard and get very little.

‘There is a lot of offending, a lot of harm and a lot of damage and loss.’

Miss Beth Rickerby, prosecuting, said stole the tips box from the Anchor’s Rest in Paignton on August 6 and knocked over a shop assistant at Tesco while running out of the shop with £39 worth of Merlot the next day.

He used a screw driver and hammer to break into the Olde Well House on the night of August 9, where he caused at least £2,000 damage or loss by raiding the till, stealing charity boxes and trying to break open a safe and to remove a Sky box.

He tried to flee police when they arrested him in McDonalds on August 15 and after being released on bail he broke into the Premier store by smashing the glass door with a rock.

He then forced open the tobacco cabinet where he stole £776.55 worth of products.

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Mansell had a drug problem which arose from a difficult past in which his father was murdered when he was 17.

He succeeded in overcoming drug addiction several times but relapsed after the death of his mother this summer. He sought help before being remanded in custody and is suitable to treatment in the community.

He denies stealing the charity boxes from the Olde Well House.