A MAN has pleaded guilty to stealing a Sainsbury's store scanner and assaulting an emergency worker.

Michael Nichols, 36, stole a store scanner worth £500 from Sainsbury's and £123.96 worth of electric toothbrushes from Superdrug, in Brighton.

Nichols, of North Road, Brighton, also pleaded guilty to assault by beating of a police officer at the Custody Centre in Crowhurst Road.

The offences all took place on January 2.

Upon his plea on January 3 at Brighton Magistrates' Court, he was ordered to pay a total of £50 in compensation for the assault.

Nichols was not fined for the thefts of the scanner or the toothbrushes due to the items being recovered.

He must pay by April 2022.