A SELF-CONFESSED alcoholic who committed a string of offences begged magistrates to lock him up after admitting biting a shop manager who threw him out of his supermarket.

Antony Cripps, 21, got his way when he was jailed for six months. Cripps pleaded guilty to common assault on Russell Wilding who was trying to evict him from the Somerfield store in Fareham.

A shop assistant tried to restrain Cripps as he threatened to kill Mr Wilding. Cripps later claimed to police shop staff headbutted him.

Jane Metcalfe, prosecuting, said Cripps was acting suspiciously in the supermarket and became aggressive.

Cripps' solicitor Nigel Hodgkinson made the unusual request to the magistrates to have his client locked up.

Mr Hodgkinson told magistrates at Fareham: "He is an alcoholic and is one of the most severe cases of alcoholism I have ever come across. His family despairs of him because of his alcoholism. They cannot cope with him, although they are very supportive. Mr Cripps also despairs of himself. He realises he he cannot cope.''