A Deliveroo courier bit off a customer’s thumb during a heated argument after she delivered her £57 Pizza Express order to the wrong address.
Jennifer Rocha, 35 years old, She now faces prison after biting Stephen Jenkinson’s thumb down to the knuckle during the freak attack in Aldershot, Hampshire.
Winchester Crown Court today heard the pair had a brief argument over a delivery code before the Brazilian deliveryman attacked the 36-year-old plumber, who was left ‘permanently disabled’ and unable to work.
Following the attack, Mr Jenkinson was rushed to hospital where he underwent an 11-hour operation during which part of his big toe was surgically stitched to the stump of his missing thumb .
Rocha, who was scheduled to stand trial for grievous bodily harm with intent, pleaded guilty today to grievous bodily harm without intent. She will be sentenced later.
Jeniffer Rocha, 35 (pictured outside Winchester Crown Court today) now faces prison after biting Stephen Jenkinson’s thumb down to the knuckle during the freak attack in Aldershot, Hampshire.
Mr Jenkinson, a 36-year-old plumber, was left ‘permanently disabled’ and unable to work
Mr Jenkinson was rushed to hospital on December 14, 2022 where he underwent an 11-hour operation during which part of his big toe was surgically stitched to the stump of his missing thumb.
Prosecutor Rebecca Austin told the court: “The impact on the victim has been devastating. He is left with a permanent disability and part of his toe has been removed. This had a physical and psychological impact and continues to this day.
The court heard Mr Jenkinson ordered a pizza from Deliveroo to his home on December 14, 2022, but Rocha arrived at the wrong address further down his street.
When he went out to pick up his food, the father-of-one forgot to bring his phone and a brief argument broke out over the delivery code he had to present.
That’s when Rocha launched his attack, Mr Jenkinson told the BBC. He raised his hands to Rocha’s motorcycle helmet and she bit his thumb.
“All I remember is me shaking her helmet trying to get her to take it off,” he told the BBC. “The force she had to bite with, she would have completely taken it off.”
When she finally let go, Mr Jenkinson raised his arm and “sprayed her with blood”.
He said his thumb, which was severed just above the knuckle, looked like it had been “run through a chainsaw.”
Neighbors began to intervene in the argument and Rocha was subsequently arrested.
Mr Jenkinson, 34, pictured with his then partner Jessica Seymour, 33, in 2022 after the attack
Mr Jenkinson said his thumb, which was cut just above the knuckle, looked like it had “gone through a chainsaw”.
Brazilian-born Rocha, who has British citizenship until 2028, will be sentenced at a later date.
He previously told The Sun: “After realizing the driver couldn’t find us, I sent her a message asking her to come to my address, but she refused and told me to come and see her, so I did.
“I ran out of the house without my phone and when she asked for the code I said I would take the pizzas and come back with them, but she was having none of it.
“She immediately attacked me, punching and kicking me, but I didn’t want to hit a woman so I just pushed her, that’s when my thumb got stuck. found it in her mouth and she just squeezed it until it came loose.”
Mr Jenkinson, a plumber by trade, said he was unable to work and had to relearn basic tasks like tying shoelaces and buttoning.
Speaking to the BBC today, he said: “Financially I’m ruined. I am unemployed. I am in huge debt and I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
His relationship with the mother of his newborn daughter also broke down, the network reported.
“I have to live with this for the rest of my life,” Mr Jenkinson said.
He says he has received nothing from Deliveroo.
Addressing Rocha in court, Judge Timothy Mousley KC said it was a “serious offense which could well result in you being sent to prison”.
Rocha has British citizenship until 2028.
Deliveroo said in a statement to the BBC that riders are self-employed.
A Deliveroo spokesperson told MailOnkine: “This was a horrible incident. We immediately shut down the story of the rider concerned and cooperated fully with the police in the investigation.