A DRUG addict who stole from a shop worker he had known for 35 years has been jailed.
Serial shop-lifter Joseph Drabocszi targeted the Spar shop on Garston Old Road, kicking the shuttered door and causing the two terrified female shop workers to flee behind the counter.
The 38-year-old has 144 previous convictions including 67 for theft and burglary.
As the petrified shop assistants cowered behind the counter, Drabocszi ran in and grabbed a handful of cigarettes.
But Peter Killen, defend- ing, said after he entered the shop one of the workers Sheila Pye realised she recognised him and con- fronted him.
Liverpool Crown Court heard she had known Drab- ocszi, of no fixed address, but formerly of Adam Close, Garston, for 35 years and he was a regular at the shop.
Yesterday Drabocszi, who admitted the January 9 theft on the day his trial was due to start, was jailed for 18 months.
