A TEENAGE thief who threatened to kill a young woman after she spotted him shoplifting has been jailed for seven months.

Peter Harris, of Upton Crescent, Oakridge, Basingstoke, pleaded guilty to intimidating 16-year-old Kate Broad, who saw him steal a crate of Stella Artois from the One Stop on Oakridge Road when she was working there on January 12.

Winchester Crown Court heard Harris, 18, approached Kate while she was shopping with her boyfriend and his 12-year-old sister four days after the theft, and tried to persuade her to change her evidence.

Mr Recorder Jonathan Fuller, passing sentence, told Harris: "She was frightened and thought that she was going to be beaten up, because you were angry and because of the way you approached her.

"You said to her: 'If you go to the police and tell them I spoke to you like this, you're dead.'"

Mr Fuller said Harris' witness intimidation was a more serious crime than the original theft, which had been committed while he was serving a community rehabilitation order for previous minor offences.

He gave Harris a 15-month sentence, half of which will be served in a young offenders institution and the other half in the community. The latter part of the punishment will be under the supervision of the probation service.

Kate's mum, Julia White, 48, from Oakridge, said she thought Kate had feared for her safety and was brave to tell the police.

Welcoming the sentence, she added: "I think he was very silly, because if he hadn't intimidated her in the first place, he probably would have got away with a far lighter sentence.

"I'm glad he's been put away, because he's not going to be there to frighten Kate again."