A DRUNKEN shop worker raided his boss's store after a session at the pub.

Burnley Crown Court heard Colin Halstead, 21, who took £4,000 worth of jewellery and ceramics, had alcohol and drugs problems but did not know why he had done it.

He thought the best way to tackle them was to reduce the strength of the cannabis he smoked and start drinking later in the day.

Halstead was given an 18-month community order with supervision and a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

The defendant, of Lyon Street, Church, admitted burglary.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt said a community order would be more onerous for Halstead but his ideas on beating his addictions were not the answer.

Philip Potter, prosecuting, said the defendant had worked for Kevin Cosgrove at Sell It All on Blackburn Road, Accrington, for two months at the time of the offence.

Mr Cosgrove found the front door smashed and open and a glass cabinet wrecked, with valuable items smashed.

Police were called and at about midday on December 7, Mr Cosgrove received a tearful phone call from the defendant who said he had stolen the property after voices in his head.