A teenage alcoholic was so drunk he could not even remember stealing beer from a Gorleston shop and abusing a police officer, a court heard this week.And Shane Esherwood is so addicted to alcohol that when he had one day off drinking he suffered extreme withdrawal symptoms.

A teenage alcoholic was so drunk he could not even remember stealing beer from a Gorleston shop and abusing a police officer, a court heard this week.

And Shane Esherwood is so addicted to alcohol that when he had one day off drinking he suffered extreme withdrawal symptoms.

The shocking state of the 19-year-old's alcoholism was revealed after he pleaded guilty to shoplifting a 10 pack of Stella Artois from the One Stop Shop on Middleton Way, being drunk and disorderly and obstructing a special constable.

Yarmouth magistrates court placed him on an 18 month community supervision order and made him attend an offender substance abuse programme.

The bench heard that Esherwood, of Forsythia Road, Gorleston and who is unemployed, had been drinking for about six years but that in the last three years he had started to drink even more heavily.

Sara Borthwick, prosecuting, said when Esherwood entered the One Stop Shop on April 5 and left with a pack of beer without paying he had been intoxicated and could not even remember the incident.

Then on May 22 a rowdy and drunk Esherwood was seen in Yarmouth's Market Place. He swore at special constable Ian Brown and tore off the handcuffs that had been placed on him. Again Esherwood had no recollection of the incident.

Claire Collins, in mitigation, said that her client was an extreme alcoholic and when he had stopped drinking for one day on Tuesday it caused him to suffer massive withdrawal pains.

Ms Collins said: “This is a young man who wants to address his problems. He wants a normal way of life.”

Esherwood was also made to pay £9.49 compensation to the One Stop Shop.