Deliveroo fails to sack driver even though she bit customer's thumb off (2024)

Rocha pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm (Image: SOLENT NEWS AGENCY)

Deliveroo failed to sack one of its drivers even though she bit a customer's thumb off.

This is the harrowing tale of how Jenniffer Rocha, 35, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm - biting a customer's thumb off after a row over a pizza - before jumping back on her bike to deliver to more members of the public.

In December 2022, Stephen Jenkinson was the customer who had ordered the Italian favourite on the Deliveroo app.

The driver admitted the charges in March this year and was then seen working for the delivery service last month, the BBC reports.

Speaking out about Deliveroo's failure to remove Rocha as a driver, he told BBC Breakfast: "The audacity that someone has to plead guilty to the charges of biting my thumb off, and then leave court and go and jump back on a moped and go off and do Deliveroo?

"It is unacceptable that Deliveroo are allowing people to get away with this."

Rocha pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and according to BBC News her Deliveroo account was cancelled.

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However, the broadcaster then filmed Rocha in April, still delivering food, and using a Deliveroo rider account.

According to Deliveroo, the account Rocha had been accessing has also been suspended.

Rocha is set to be sentenced on Friday.

Earlier this week, the heavyweights in delivery app services - including Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats - would tighten its systems to check the identities of "substitute" riders.

Rocha had originally arrived at the wrong location on December 14, 2022, with Mr Jenkinson walking down the street to meet her.

However, he forgot to pick up his phone, sparking an argument between the customer and driver as Mr Jenkinson needed to give Rocha a code in order to collect the food.

Mr Jenkinson was then attacked.

Rocha pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm at Winchester Crown Court on March 19.

The incident was described by Deliveroo previously as "awful".

A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: "We immediately cancelled the account that was being used at the time of this terrible incident and subsequently terminated an alternative account.

"We have strengthened our processes and recently introduced a new registration process and identity verification technology for substitute riders."

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