19 March 2024 , 23:09
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A Deliveroo rider has admitted to causing grievous bodily harm after biting a customer 's thumb off.
Jennifer Rocha could face a prison sentence after going for Stephen Jenkinson's thumb as she delivered his pizza, leaving it completely severed above the knuckle.
Mr Jenkinson, 36, and Rocha, 35, had a brief argument over a delivery code before the Brazilian Deliveroo rider bit his thumb off. After the strange incident, Mr Jenkinson needed to have part of his big toe surgically sewn onto the stump of his missing thumb.
Rocha, a married mother of two, appeared at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, today and was due to face trial for grievous bodily harm with intent.
Stephen Jenkinson outside Winchester Crown Court, Hants (Andrew Croft/Solent News)However, at the last moment, she admitted grievous bodily harm without intent and is due to be sentenced at a later date. Prosecutor Rebecca Austin told the court that Mr Jenkinson had undergone an 11-hour operation after the incident and remained 'permanently disabled'.
I ordered a £36 KFC bucket but 27 pieces were missing... I'm raging
She said: "The impact on the victim has been devastating. He has been left with a permanent disability and a part of his toe being removed.
"It has had a physical and psychological impact and continues to this day." The court heard how Mr Jenkinson ordered pizza from Deliveroo to his home near Aldershot, Hants, on December 14, 2022.
But Rocha arrived at the wrong address, and when Mr Jenkinson began to collect his food the pair argued over a delivery code which he needed to show.
Mr Jenkinson said that as he raised his hand, Rocha bit his thumb. He told the BBC: "All I remember, I was shaking her helmet trying to get her off."
"The force with which she must have been biting, she'd clean taken it off." He said it was as if he had "gone through a chainsaw".
Mr Jenkinson, a plumber by trade, said he has been unable to work and had to relearn basic tasks like tying shoelaces and doing up buttons. He said: "Financially, I'm ruined. I'm unemployed. I'm in a massive amount of debt and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel."
He claimed he had received nothing from Deliveroo. Addressing Rocha in court, Judge Timothy Mousley KC said it was a "serious offence which may well result in you being sent to prison".
Rocha has citizenship in the UK until 2028. Deliveroo said in a statement that riders are self-employed.