If you ever wondered how a Deliveroo order could lead to you getting your thumb bitten off, here’s a fine example out of Aldershot, Hampshire, involving a man and his £57 Pizza Express order.
Stephen Jenkinson, 36, had to have part of his big toe surgically sewn on to his missing right thumb after it was bitten off by Deliveroo rider Jennifer Rocha, 35. Which might’ve been funny if she was from Just Eat, but I guess there’s no word on if she actually swallowed Jenkinson’s thumb or just bit it off.
The pair had an argument over a collection code after Rocha delivered the Pizza Express order to the wrong address, prompting a peeved off Jenkinson to go and collect his delivery from someone else’s doorstep down the street. As he did so, the argument broke out, and when he raised his hand Rocha clamped her jaws around his thumb and started gnawing it off.
She eventually let go and Jenkinson lifted his arm and ‘sprayed her with blood’. He has been left permanently disabled by the attack and had to have an 11 hour operation.
Recalling the incident at Winchester Crown Court, Jenkinson said: ‘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. [It was like it had] gone through a chainsaw.’
Jenkinson has had to relearn basic skills like doing up buttons and tying up shoelaces. He’s also a plumber by trade, so losing his thumb has devastated his work prospects: ‘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.’
Brutal stuff. Jennifer Rocha was due to face trial for GBH with intent but has now admitted GBH without intent and will be sentenced at a later date.
Surprisingly, Jenkinson can’t bring a claim against Deliveroo because riders aren’t officially Deliveroo employees, but rather independent contractors. In fact, Rocha wasn’t even that, as she had been working as a “substitute” rider using someone else’s account. So literally anyone can take the job it seems, even cannibalistic lunatics like Rocha, with no accountability for Deliveroo.
Deliveroo said in a statement: ‘This was an awful incident. We ended the account of the rider concerned immediately and have fully cooperated with the police on the investigation.’
Man, you have to feel for the guy. He’s now got a toe for a thumb and has been left unemployed and in debt and mentally scarred from the incident, all because of a pizza delivery gone ridiculously wrong. Here’s hoping Jennifer Rocha gets the sentence she deserves for effectively ruining this man’s life, and that Stephen Jenkinson can get back on track once justice is served.
For the Deliveroo rider sacked for mocking a woman over her thrush cream, click HERE.
