A BEGGAR who threatened to slit one man’s throat and bite another man’s nose off has been spared jail – because he lives in a hotel.

John Anthony Sallis, 35, had to be restrained by street rangers because of the way he was behaving near Tesco’s in Piccadilly, York magistrates heard.

Kathryn Reeve, prosecuting, said they were trying to calm the 35-year-old man down because he was kicking out and being aggressive at random to passing people.

Street drinker Sallis pleaded guilty to a public order offence and criminal damage to a police van.

His solicitor Neal Kutte said Sallis had been homeless and living on the streets with several personal issues.

But now he had somewhere to live and wanted to sort his life out.

“He has been found accommodation in Layerthorpe,” said the solicitor.

“He was under the influence of alcohol. He knows it is killing him, he knows it is not good for him, he knows he needs to stop but that is not easy.”

Mr Kutte said Sallis had no money but planned to claim benefits.

Magistrates said they considered sending Sallis to prison for his actions on Piccadilly on May 15.

“For the first time in probably a very long time, you now have somewhere to live, you are not homeless,” they told him. “This could be a way ahead. It is a start for you to turn your life around.”

They gave him a 12-month community order as a direct alternative to custody with 25 days’ rehabilitative activities and ordered him to pay £45 compensation.

Ms Reeve said at 1.30pm on May 15, Sallis’s behaviour prompted a security guard from Spark on the other side of the road to try and calm him down. Sallis stood up and told him: “I will slit your …….. throat.”

Two street marshals also intervened and Sallis threatened to bite one of their noses off.

After his arrest, he spat on the floor of a police van.