A drunken defendant, with now little memory of events, committed a spate of offences late one night, following a row with his partner.

Dean Lee Smith, who was lying on the floor, reached over and picked up the tv remote control device which he threw at the wall near to the door, causing it to smash.

Durham Crown Court was told five minutes later he punched the tv screen, also causing that to break beyond repair.

Jonathan Harley, prosecuting, said the argument continued and Smith left the house, in Newton Aycliffe, heading to the town’s Tesco store, where he entered at 11.15pm and helped himself to eight bottles of spirits, triggering the security alarm as he left.

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Challenged outside, due to his demeanour, and asked to allow his basket to be checked, Smith refused to comply and threw punches, which missed the security guard.

He was asked to produce a receipt, but he stamped on the guard’s foot, then he swung a couple of kicks in the security officer’s direction, both also missing.

Mr Harley said Smith’s actions were reported to police, who came across him, still carrying the Tesco basket containing the stolen bottles of spirit, all with their security tags intact, entering Hatfield Road, in Newton Aycliffe.

He was handcuffed and searched, revealing a kitchen knife in one coat pocket and a pair of scissors in the other, both of which were seized.

Smith, who appeared intoxicated, behaved in an aggressive manner.

As he was placed into a police van he spat in the direction of the officers up to three times, missing them, however.

Mr Harley said the value of the recovered spirit bottles was put at £266, while the damaged tv set was worth £200.

When police interviewed him, the defendant said he was unable to recall what took place that night, on September 21, claiming to have total memory loss.

Over two court plea hearings Smith, 38, of Hylton Lane, Sunderland, admitted charges of criminal damage, theft , assault, two counts of having a bladed article in public and assaulting an emergency worker, relating to the spitting.

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Mr Harley said the defendant has 54 past convictions for 82 offences, including 22 for theft, three for violence and one previously for carrying a bladed article in public.

The court was told the latest offending spree also put him in breach of a 15-month suspended sentence, imposed in June, for burglary.

Nicholas Lane, for Smith, said, given the breach of the suspended sentence order and the fact it was his second conviction for carrying bladed articles in public, the defendant was aware he would be facing an inevitable custodial sentence.

Relating to the incident on September 21, Mr Lane said: “He is candid. He was intoxicated and has no recollection.

“I’ve discussed it with him and he’s ashamed of his behaviour.”

Mr Lane said the defendant has a formal diagnosis of mixed personality disorder, with anti-social narcissistic traits and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

But he said while it is not claimed those conditions were, “directly responsible” for his behaviour that night, “it’s the link between poor mental health, mixed with drinking and taking other substances, which he will try to steer clear of in future.”

Mr Lane added that Smith hopes to complete programmes available to him in custody to help deal with those issues.

Recorder Tom Moran said a mixture of his highly intoxicated state and the carrying of knives on his shoplifting expedition, made it a, “potentially highly dangerous situation.”

He imposed a 21-month prison sentence, to include activation of 14 of the 15 months of the suspended sentence from June.

Read next:

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               Aycliffe diner 'devastated' after business is ransacked by thieves

               Newton Aycliffe incident: Teenagers arrested after alleged attempted robbery of motorbike

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