A THIEF who helped himself to a crate of lager has had a drink problem since he was 12, a court was told.
Burnley Magistrates heard how Marc Brian Swain, 28, had tried to walk out of Barnoldswick Co-op without paying.
Staff took him to the foyer where he became violent and tried to run away.
Swain claimed he had hepatitis, had a dirty needle and was going to squirt them with it.
The defendant was eventually restrained but was so violent and uncontrollable officers had to let a police dog go to subdue him.
Swain, a "persistent offender," of Coates Avenue, Barnoldswick, admitted theft and was given a 12-months community rehabilitation order.
Graeme Tindall, defending, said Swain had had a drink problem since he was 12 when his father died.
He also had psychiatric problems.
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