A TEENAGER was so depressed after his family cut him off that he turned to drink and crime, York magistrates heard.

Daniel Temple wanted to be with his relatives on his 18th birthday earlier this month, said his solicitor, Richard Minion.

But he had to move out of the family home following a violent incident in November and his father wanted nothing to do with him.

As a result, he had low self-esteem and started drinking heavily.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said Temple stole some Carling lager worth £6 from Sainsbury’s Fulford Road store in York on February 11, but was spotted by staff and caught on CCTV. He was arrested shortly afterwards.

Temple, now of Ordnance Lane, Fulford, pleaded guilty to theft and was conditionally discharged for six months and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs.

Mr Minion said Temple had already sought alcohol counselling and that he was likely to have to go on an alcohol rehabilitation course as part of a previous court order.