A DRUG addict stole two bottles of vodka from a Harrogate store after he had been given a conditional discharge for an identical theft from the same shop, the town's magistrates heard yesterday.

Stuart Singleton, 21, pleaded guilty to the theft of £19.98 worth of vodka from Marks and Spencer.

Michael Hammond, prosecuting, said he had been convicted of exactly the same theft last year.

But on the recent occasion he had made his crime worse by struggling with a woman store detective who had tried to apprehend him.

She had to be helped by some of the store's customers, the court heard.

Mr Hammond said Singleton, who also admitted stealing wooden toys worth £28 from the Early Learning Centre, also in Harrogate, had told police that he would have drunk the contents of one of the bottles and sold the other to raise cash.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said Singleton had stolen because of his drugs habit.

He had now moved out of Harrogate to live in a probation hostel in York.

The court made Singleton the subject of a 12-month drugs treatment and testing order, and also imposed a six-month probation order to ensure he remained at the hostel.

He was also ordered to pay £70 costs