A shoplifter headbutted a police officer after he was confronted shoving hundreds of pounds worth of clothes into a carrier bag.
Jamie Patterson, 34, cut a gap-toothed figure in his mugshot after he was arrested following the “nasty and completely unwarranted assault”.
His front tooth was missing and he sported a bandage over a cut on his head in the photo released by cops after he was jailed for 23 weeks.
Patterson left a policeman in hospital following a chase from a shop in Hackney, east London, at 11am on October 30 when he was spotted putting clothes worth £219 in a bag.
He was detained and taken back to the shop, where he headbutted the policeman and ran off – before he was caught again.
Detective Constable Syed Shah of the City of London Police said: “This was a nasty and completely unwarranted assault on a City of London Police officer who was simply doing his job and did not deserve to be attacked in this way.
“I hope Patterson will take the opportunity in custody to reflect on his actions, and that this sentence will show that we do not tolerate either theft or violence towards our officers and will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice.”
The officer needed three stitches for the injury to his head.
Patterson then refused to answer any questions when quizzed by detectives about the incidents.
A staff member at the store later recognised Patterson from a previous shoplifting offence at the same shop 13 days earlier.
On that occasion he stole various items of clothing from a display, worth a total of £319, and left the store without paying.
He was soon further arrested for this offence.
Patterson was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday, December 6 after he pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and actual bodily harm.
He received a 15-week sentence for ABH, to run consecutively with an eight-week suspended sentence for a previous offence, which was activated.
He also got two concurrent 14-day sentences for theft and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge, but no costs or compensation.
By Lewis Pennock