AN ADDICT who confronted a cashier with a knife after being caught stealing crates of cider has been sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Brandon Lund, 20, was homeless and drinking around one litre of vodka a day when he targeted the Co-op store in Broomhill Avenue, Keighley, on February 17.

He and another man stole two crates of cider, but cashier Colin Preston chased Lund into nearby Oakworth Road.

Prosecutor Ciara Riordan said Lund threatened Mr Preston with a black-handled kitchen knife, holding it against his abdomen and swearing at him.

Lund, now of Coates Street, Bradford, had pleaded guilty to theft at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court but denied having or using the knife.

In police interviews, he told officers: “I never have and never will carry a knife.”

He was found guilty of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place after trial.

A report by the probation service stated that since the offences, Lund, who the court heard suffered from schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, had found stable accommodation and made efforts to reduce his drinking.

James Bourne-Arton, for Lund, said his client’s life had “spiralled out of control” just before Christmas last year following the death of his mother and a loss of contact with his young daughter.

Judge Neil Davey QC said while he acknowledged that Lund was in turmoil and suffering from alcohol addiction at the time of the offences, there was no justification for not passing the minimum sentence of six months for the possession of an offensive weapon.

He told Lund: “You must have been carrying that knife for the purposes of threatening people.”