A THIEF fled from an ice cream parlour with the till when staff tried to help a man suffering a heart attack.

James Danks was at The Venue on Hove seafront when he spotted staff trying to help the stricken man and grabbed the cash tray.

Natasha Dardashti, prosecuting at Hove Crown Court, said: “Danks entered and approached the ice cream counter, but a man then clutched his chest and started having a heart attack. Staff left their position at the ice cream counter, and he took the tray from the till.

“He ran away, but an off duty PC realised what was happening and pursued him.

“So he dropped the tray causing all the coins to spill over onto the promenade saying ‘f*** this’.

“The PC pinned him to the ground, but another woman accompanying Danks approached. He told the officer, ‘I have got a knife I will stab you. I will stab you with a needle. I’m running with my family, we have got needles and we will stick you’.”

Just days after the attempted theft on May 5, the 42-year-old Danks acted as a look-out for pal David Potter during a burglary.

They targeted a woman’s house in Braybon Avenue in Hollingbury, on May 10.

Potter went into the woman’s bedroom and stole perfume, gold rings and a DVD player after ransacking the drawers.

She arrived home early and was left shocked as he barged past her to escape.

The pair were then caught on CCTV inspecting their loot on a bus.

Finally on May 14 Potter, of Bramble Way in Brighton, burgled a basement flat in Church Road in Hove. His finger prints had been left at the scene.

The recovering drug addicts appeared in court together.

Danks, of Egremont Place in Brighton, admitted two burglaries and common assault.

48-year-old Potter admitted targeting basement flats by smashing or kicking through front doors and ransacking people’s belongings.

Potter sold the items in pubs, kebab houses, and at Cash Converters to feed his drugs habit.

Judge Christine Laing QC said there was no option but to send Potter to prison for 29 months, as he had admitted 11 burglaries on people’s homes.

“People do their best to earn a decent living, and you came and took it all away from them,” she said.

But Danks was given a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to complete drug rehabilitation, with the judge telling him it is his “last opportunity” to turn his life around.

James MacPherson, defending Potter, said he had an “appalling record” but had helped police by admitting his crimes. Josie Sonessa, defending Danks, said he has managed to get himself off drugs, but was fearful of losing his place in rehabilitation if he was sent to prison.