A 24-YEAR-OLD who brandished a needle at supermarket staff before running into a pensioner's home to escape capture has been jailed.

Dale Andrew Smith was attempting to steal alcohol to order and had filled a carrier bag with food while inside the Asda Superstore, in South Bank, Middlesbrough.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday Smith was approached by a deputy store manager on August 14 and was asked to return the alcohol he selected from the shelf.

Harry Hadfield, prosecuting, said the 24-year-old threatening the man and other members of staff with a needle before running out of the shop, knocking over a display of alcohol worth £100 in the process.

While on the run, Smith entered the property of a pensioner in sheltered accommodation who was asleep in bed.

He was arrested three days after the incident and remanded in custody. He appeared in court via video link from HMP Durham and pleaded guilty to possessing a pointed article.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, sentenced Smith to two years and four months in jail.