A DRUNK heroin addict racially assaulted a security guard after he was caught shoplifting from a Worcester supermarket, a court heard.

Shane Pinfield has now been handed a suspended sentence which could result in him spending up to four months in jail if he commits another offence in the next 12 months.

Julie Rosamond, prosecuting, said the racially aggravated common assault was the last offence he committed following three thefts from shops across the city since February.

Pinfield, aged 31, also failed to surrender to his bail and he admitted all of the charges against him when he appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Miss Rosamond said a security guard saw Pinfield acting suspiciously, placing coffee jars inside a green bag when he entered the Co-op store in St John's at about 8.30pm on Monday, April 30.

She said Pinfield was then seen paying for bread but not the coffee so the security guard stopped him from leaving the store. It was then that Pinfield became aggressive and started shouting racial slurs before he punched the security guard in the forehead.

Miss Rosamond said: "The defendant continued being abusive. He was shouting, You're black, go back to where you came from'."

She said police were called and Pinfield was arrested.

"He admitted going into the store to steal," she said. "He needed to buy methadone. He said he had been drinking."

In another offence, Miss Rosamond said Pinfield had stolen cleaning materials worth £9.12 from the Spar store in Cranham Drive, Warndon, while he was "high on heroin" in February. He was arrested when the CCTV footage had been reviewed.

As a result of that incident, Pinfield failed to attend court on Tuesday, March 20, and he was also caught attempting to steal CDs worth £59.35 and DVDs from Ombersley Road Co-op store on Friday, April 20.

In mitigation, Paul Stanley said Pinfield had been a heroin addict for about six years, but did not think he was a serial offender.

"What is clear is that he is motivated to succeed," he said. "While he has been in custody he has completed a short drugs programme.

"He is drug-free and the defendant does not want to go back into custody."

Worcester magistrates ordered Pinfield, of Avening Close, Blackpole, Worcester, to undertake a six-month drug rehabilitation course as well as a 12-month supervised community order.

He has also been ordered to pay £100 compensation to the security guard, £9.12 for the stolen cleaning products, and £90 court costs.