Deliveroo rider bites off Aldershot customer's thumb

A food delivery driver who bit off a customer's thumb has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

Jenniffer Rocha, 35, attacked the customer in December 2022 near his home in Aldershot in Hampshire.

She was not employed by Deliveroo, but had been working as a "substitute" rider using someone else's account.

The judge at Winchester Crown Court described it as a "serious offence", which could result in a prison sentence.

Deliveroo said it was an "awful incident", adding it had ended the rider's account.

Rocha is due to be sentenced on 3 May.

Warning: This story contains a graphic image and details that some readers may find upsetting

Stephen Jenkinson, 36, had ordered a pizza from the food delivery app on 14 December 2022.

But Rocha arrived at the wrong location, down the street from Mr Jenkinson's house.

When he went to get his food, he forgot his phone and a brief argument ensued about the delivery code number he needed to provide.

Mr Jenkinson said he was then attacked.

He raised his hand to Rocha's motorcycle helmet and she bit his thumb.

"All I remember, I was shaking her helmet trying to get her off," he told the BBC.

She eventually let go, at which point Mr Jenkinson lifted up his arm and "sprayed her with blood".

Mr Jenkinson's thumb was severed just above the knuckle.

"The force with which she must have been biting, she'd clean taken it off," he said, adding it was as if he had "gone through a chainsaw".

He said the case raised questions about Deliveroo's responsibility for scrutinising its delivery drivers.

It comes as new figures released to BBC News indicate that, across the UK, three vehicles used for food delivery are seized every week by police because they are uninsured for business use.

Deliveroo, like many food delivery apps, does not employ any drivers or riders directly.

They are classed as independent contractors and can appoint "substitutes" to deliver on their behalf.

It is the responsibility of the main account holder to check that the substitute is legally allowed to work.

Rocha was in the UK legally and had the right to work here.

Deliveroo said its riders were covered by the company's own free insurance.

But because Rocha was working as a substitute for another driver, Deliveroo cannot be held legally responsible.

Solicitors representing Mr Jenkinson said her insurance policy did not cover injury caused by a criminal act.

"At the moment, I'm getting nothing from Deliveroo," said Mr Jenkinson.

A plumber by training, Mr Jenkinson said he had been unable to work since the attack.

After months of reconstructive surgery, part of his big toe was grafted onto the stump of his missing thumb.

He has had to relearn basic tasks such as doing up buttons or tying shoelaces - and said he still had no sensation in it.

"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 said.

His relationship with his girlfriend, the mother of their newborn daughter, also broke down following the incident.

"I have to live with this for the rest of my life," Mr Jenkinson said.

"I want to use this story to help others, to say 'this has to change'," he added.

Mr Jenkinson's lawyer, Alex Barley from Slater Heelis, said: "Companies operating in the gig economy should be held to account for the actions of the people they rely on for their significant profits.

"The practice of substitution should be stopped and the companies should be required to carry out necessary checks on all people working for them".

In a statement Deliveroo said its riders were self employed - a fact which had 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," it added.

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