A woman who tried to steal hats from an Eastbourne shop and aimed racist abuse at staff has been jailed for three months.

Belinda Williams, 27, was caught as she removed security tags from two hats at Mabu Leather, Seaside Road, in March. Worker Narmin Noornohaned challenged her, sparking a struggle, during which she and a fellow member of staff were sworn at and called "Paki Bangladeshis", Lewes Crown Court heard.

Williams was also alleged to have threatened to burn the store down during the incident. Prosecutor Marcus Thompson said: "She was seen to take a security tag remover from her purse and to take a hat from the display area and begin to remove the tag.

"Having seen the defendant doing this, Narmin Noormohamed grabbed hold of her. The defendant was trying to leave, but was being restrained."

The court was shown a CCTV video showing the struggle. Williams, who lived in Eastbourne but has since moved to the Isle of Wight, admitted going equipped for theft, attempted theft and common assault when she appeared yesterday.

The Crown did not proceed with two charges of racially aggravated assault, which she denied. Sarah Campbell, defending, said: "She has had drinking problems and it was in that context that these offences happened."

Sentencing, Recorder Lindsay Burn said: "She made a concerted and prolonged attempt to leave the shop and in the course of that the shop assistant got quite nasty injuries and she used highly offensive language."

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