A SOLDIER who stole a bottle of vodka and then resisted a police officer was thanked by magistrates for his work in Iraq yesterday.

Patrick O'Brien, 19, of Jedburgh Drive, Darlington, has been in the Army for a year, and served in Iraq for six months.

On Wednesday, April 4, he went to Asda, in Darlington, with a group of friends. O'Brien had been drinking, and shoved crisps and a bottle of vodka into his jacket.

When police arrived and arrested O'Brien, he demanded handcuffs were removed, and became aggressive. It took four officers to restrain him.

Graham Hunsley, mitigating, said his client's memory of the event was "sketchy at best". Mr Hunsley said his client did have money to pay for the goods.

Speaking of his client's time in Iraq, Mr Hunsley said: "It was certainly an experience that was not a pleasant one."

Chairman of the bench at Darlington Magistrates' Court, Brian Avery, said: "I don't think any of us would like to be in the places you have been. We do appreciate you are doing a fine job in very strenuous circumstances."

O'Brien, who pleaded guilty to theft and resisting a police officer, was fined £50 for each offence. In March, shortly after returning from Iraq, O'Brien was cautioned for assault.