A YOUNG heroin addict fled with cash from a discount store after threatening a teenage assistant with a knife, a court was told yesterday.

John McGloen, 23, said he was holding a Mars bar and not a knife in the raid on the Poundstretcher store, in Peterlee, on December 7.

McGloen, of Quetlaw Road, Wheatley Hill, admitted robbery at a previous hearing.

Durham Crown Court heard that he admitted having taken drugs before carrying out the raid.

The court was told he bought a Mars bar, offering £1.25 in cash for a bar costing less than 40p.

In evidence the 17-year-old assistant said in a split second McGloen had jumped across the counter, putting one hand on the till and she felt a sharp object pointed to her neck.

"I can see the knife in my head. It wasn't a Mars bar, it was a knife," she told the court.

Store manager Marika Hagley said she heard a scream and when she ran to check what was happening, the assistant immediately told her that the robber was carrying a knife.

Judge Richard Lowden said it was obvious McGloen was not thinking straight, because he admitted having taken a number of tablets before carrying out the raid.

The judge said that he believed a knife was used during the raid and he would pass sentence on that basis.

Sentence was adjourned for four weeks pending preparation of reports on McGloen, who was remanded in custody.