JUST one Cornetto led to a thief telling a shop manager her young assistant should be hanged, a court was told.

Burnley magistrates heard how Shafqat Hussain, 42, turned nasty and was abusive after he was spotted eating the ice cream he had stolen in a Nelson shop.

He used obscene language towards the female manager and, referring to the worker, said: “If that was my child, I would hang him from the rafters.”

The court was told Hussain, a graduate, had mental health problems, but didn't accept the medical opinion and had not taken his medication.

The defendant, of Manchester Road, Nelson, admitted theft of the Cornetto and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour on October 12.

He was fined £70, with a £20 victim surcharge with £85 costs to pay.

Julie Reddish, prosecuting, said Hussain and another man went into Maria's Cash and Carry, Bradley Road. He ripped open a cardboard box, took the ice cream and started to eat it.

Adnan Hanif, for Hussain, said he wanted to express remorse. When he stopped taking his medication, he was ‘in a different world altogether’.

He said: “Since then, he has taken his medication and when he takes his medication, everything is fine.”