A TEENAGER punched a shop manager in the face when he refused to give him a refund, a court heard.

Matthew Spencer, 18, pleaded guilty to assaulting John Anderson at All Sports in Northgate, Darlington, on April 5.

James Thomas, prosecuting, told Darlington magistrates that Spencer had wanted to return a jacket, but Mr Anderson refused when he saw there were grease marks on it.

In mitigation, Alan Meehan said Spencer, of Fountains Way, Morton-on-Swale, near Northallerton, was a troubled young man who suffered with paranoia and schizophrenia.

Magistrates ordered him to pay £100 compensation and £55 costs and gave him a 12- month conditional discharge