A MAN threatened a supermarket store security guard with a pair of scissors when he saw him detain a woman shoplifter.

David Bates denied that the woman he helped free was his girlfriend and said she was just an acquaintance.

The woman he helped ran away but the security guard recognised Bates and he was later arrested.

Bates, aged 25, of Birkleigh Walk, Bolton, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentence.

He had earlier admitted possessing an offensive weapon, namely a pair of scissors, in the incident on September 18 last year.

The court was told that Bates had been in Safeways supermarket in Bury Road, Bolton, when he saw a security guard detain a woman.

He went to her help and produced a pair of scissors and threatened the security guard who had to let the woman go.

But Bates was known to the security staff and later police arrested him. He claimed the woman was not his girlfriend.

Bates said he acted without thinking and just joined in the struggle. He was carrying the scissors because earlier in that day he had been cutting his girlfriend's hair.

He had also failed to appear at a previous court hearing but claimed he had got his dates mixed up.

Judge Bruce Macmillan said he believed the woman had been Bates's girlfriend. He sentenced him to a 240 Community Punishment Order.