A JUDGE spoke of a shop robber's unusual choice of weapon as he narrowly avoided prison on Friday - a bottle of Prosecco.

Boozed-up Ian Fletcher stumbled into a barber's shop in Hartlepool demanding money from the till on July 17 last year.

The 43-year-old was carrying a bottle of the sparkling wine which he put close to the face of a hairdresser.

The woman - Fletcher's former partner - said in a court statement: "I have never felt as scared in all of my life."

Defence barrister Tamara Pawson said although the charge had to be robbery, it was more of a drunken domestic argument.

In an interview after his arrest, Fletcher told police he went to the salon because his ex-girlfriend would not answer her phone.

The court heard that he had called about ten times in as many minutes on the Sunday morning, but Miss Standing ignored him.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden said a customer and his two-year-old son were in the shop when Fletcher turned up drunk at 11am.

"He entered carrying a large bottle of Prosecco in his right hand, staggering around, spilling it," Mr Dryden told the court.

"The defendant said 'give me the money out of the till' while waving the bottle in her face. He repeated that phrase."

Shaven-headed Fletcher was described as "red and contorted" and was so big, the customer was scared to tackle him.

He picked up the till, emptied about £10 in coins out, scooped them up and dropped the cash register, said Mr Dryden, who added: "For good measure, he picked up a display stand of hair products on his way out and threw that to the floor as well."

Miss Pawson said: "This can be described as a one-off incident. This was a domestic gone wrong. He was intoxicated. It is not a typical robbery."

Fletcher, of Alliance Street, Hartlepool, admitted robbery and was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and six months of drug rehabilitation.

Judge Crowson, who also ordered him to pay £160 compensation and £250 costs, told unemployed Fletcher: "It was threatening, but no actual harm was done, and your weapon of choice was an unusual one for a robbery."