A man who grabbed a shop worker by the throat and used a fire extinguisher as a weapon escaped a jail sentence yesterday after impressing magistrates with his bid to kick his heroin habit.

Paul Turner, 27, pleaded guilty to theft, affray, receiving, four counts of failing to answer bail and driving without insurance, when he appeared in court in Harrogate.

But presiding magistrate Janet Frankland said: ''We have been encouraged by the fact that you have come off heroin on your own and hope you keep to this path.''

Turner, of East Parade, Harrogate, was put on probation for a year, banned from the roads for a similar period and ordered to pay £100 costs.

Peter Scott, prosecuting, said Turner, who had first failed to turn himself in last November after running from a supermarket with a DVD player, had tried to walk out of a shop wearing a £65 jacket.

When two members of staff challenged him, he picked up a fire extinguisher to ward them off and then grabbed one by the throat.

Clive Farndon, mitigating, said Turner's recent offending had been drugs-related with convictions for both possession and supply.

Mr Farndon said that on the day of the jacket incident, Turner had attended an uncle's funeral in Hartlepool and had used Valium and alcohol to help him cope.

Turner had spent three weeks on remand and had made strong efforts to end his heroin addiction.