A DELIVEROO driver was “sprayed with blood” after biting off a customer’s entire thumb in a row over pizza.
Jenniffer Rocha, 35, attacked Stephen Jenkinson near his home in Aldershot.
3
3
Stephen, 36, had ordered a pizza on the delivery app, but Rocha arrived down the street from his house.
When Stephen went to get his food, he forgot his phone – sparking an argument about his delivery code number.
He said the row spun out of control and Rocha launched an attack on him.
The plumber raised his hand to Rocha’s helmet – but she bit into his thumb.
Stephen told the BBC: “All I remember, I was shaking her helmet trying to get her off.”
Rocha bit clean through Stephen’s thumb before eventually letting go.
The Hampshire man said he then lifted up his arm and “sprayed her with blood”.
Stephen said: “The force with which she must have been biting, she’d clean taken it off.
“It was as if it had gone through a chainsaw.”
Rocha has pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm following the attack in December 2022.
The 35-year-old will be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on May 3.
Plumber Stephen has been unable to work since his thumb was severed above the knuckle – saying he is “financially ruined”.
But he said he has not been compensated by Deliveroo, as the firm has cannot be held legally responsible.
Part of Stephen’s big toe was grafted onto the stump of his missing thumb following months of reconstructive surgery.
Deliveroo said: “This was an awful incident. We ended the account of the rider concerned immediately.”
A spokesperson added: “We have fully cooperated with the police on the investigation.
“Deliveroo riders are self employed, which has been confirmed by UK courts on multiple occasions.
“Substitution is and always has been a common feature of self-employment – it is not specific to Deliveroo, nor our sector.”
