THIEVES were brought to justice by two women in contrasting circumstances - one was arrested after knocking a sales assistant through a glass front door and the other because a cleaner couldn't sleep!

Dawn Pearce, 23, needed a dozen stitches to stem a neck wound after helping to foil a stolen credit card purchase at a town centre shop. She also suffered bruises and shock which left a colleague to comment of her injuries: "She was cut to pieces."

The drama happened at about lunchtime on October 10, 1983, when two men entered Hinds shop in Basingstoke to buy a ring with a Barclaycard, but a member of staff became suspicious. She telephoned to check the service if it was genuine, and when told it was not, she was advised to keep the pair talking while the police were called.

One man fled but the other waited impatiently for the purchase to go through. PC Stephen Morris then arrived and within seconds the pair were ferociously wrestling on the floor. It was at this point that Dawn tried to lock the front door but the two fighters crashed into her and she and the suspect went sent crashing through the glass. Morris amazingly managed to hold on to him. The man was arrested before he and Dawn were separately taken to hospital for treatment.

Later Dawn told the Echo at her home in Priorys Close, Kingsclere, she had been badly shaken by the ordeal, adding: "I just feel very tired now."

Basingstoke in the 1980s.Basingstoke in the 1980s. (Image: Echo)

The 41-year-old thief, who came from Ringwood, appeared before Basingstoke magistrates to admit two charges of assault and one each of attempted deception, forging a signature and stealing the credit card which he claimed to have found in Poole. He also asked for five other fraudulent Barclaycard purchases in the town to be considered.

The defendant was told to carry out 120 hours community service and pay £100 compensation to Dawn who was complimented by the magistrates for her actions. In addition, he was ordered to pay sundry costs and compensation totalling £163.

Days later, a judge heard how the cleaner's insomnia helped police catch two crooks who had broken into business premises in the town.

The pair had gained access through a fanlight and wheeling a safe out of sight, they drilled a hole in it to steal its contents of more than £1,500 in cash and items of personal jewellery which they stuffed into a briefcase.

It had taken them four hours to carry out the night raid and deciding they needed a break, strolled to another part of the premises where they helped themselves to a hot drink.

And that was a fatal error, as prosecutor Francis Birkett explained at Winchester Crown Court. 

Ringwood in the 1980s.Ringwood in the 1980s. (Image: Echo)

"Patricia Jackman, who unfortunately suffers from insomnia, decided to go into work at 3am instead of 9am. When they saw her, they tried to make good their escape, leaving behind the cash and other stolen property."

She made a 999 call to the police who found the men hiding in nearby premises and they were arrested.

The two men pleaded guilty to burglary at Goodall Barnard. The elder man, aged 42, was described as a professional burglar. In addition to that raid, he also admitted break-ins at two other factories in the town and three burglaries at schools in Taunton. He also asked for 17 other offences committed in Basingstoke and the Taunton areas to be considered.

Recorder Nathaniel Blaker QC was told the case involved more than £11,000, and jailed him for three years.

His 23-year-old accomplice at Goodall Barnard was given a two-year suspended prison sentence coupled with a supervision order.