A shoplifter who stole items from a supermarket became addicted to alcohol at the age of 12, a court heard.

David Michael McMurray was sentenced for stealing alcohol from the Co-op in Walney's Plymouth Street.

The 41-year-old admitted stealing a bottle of wine and cans of cider worth £12 when he appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutor Lee Dacre said it happened on July 6.

"At 5.20pm he entered the Co-op on Walney," he said.

"He picked up some wine and put it in a carrier bag.

"He then picked up four cans of Kopparberg, which separated.

"He was arrested and admitted he had drunk the alcohol."

In mitigation, Louise Gordon described how McMurray, of Thames Street in Barrow, had struggled with alcohol problems and said he did not remember committing the offence.

She said: "Mr McMurray pleads guilty at the earliest opportunity.

"He struggles to explain why he did what he did.

"He doesn't remember going into the shop.

"He's been an alcoholic and has been since the age of 12.

"It's an addiction he's continually struggled with."

Ms Gordon said the defendant had engage with alcohol recovery services in the past but thought they 'made him worse'.

"He does realise he can only beat it on his own and needs to get himself in the right mindset."

The court heard McMurray was on post-sentence supervision and had been engaging with the probation service but not attending alcohol rehabilitation services.

Earlier this year he was sentenced to a conditional discharge , which he breached by stealing the items.

District Judge John Temperley sentenced the defendant, giving him credit for his guilty plea.

He told him: "It's made more serious by your previous record.

"I've considered whether to engage probation further but I don't feel this offence crosses the threshold for a community order.

"If your offending continues then it's highly likely that next time the sentence will be further up the scale."

For shoplifting McMurray and breaching his conditional discharge was fined £100 for each offence.

He was ordered to pay £12 in compensation to the Co-op as well as a £34 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £85.

In October last year, McMurray was jailed for 28 days after he breached a restraining order for the tenth time.

He visited his ex-partner, putting in breach of the order granted in 2017.