A HEROIN addict put on a suspended sentence after he kicked the habit while on remand in prison thought he could have ‘a taste’ of the drug after he was released.

But Martin Lockey fell back into addiction and failed to turn up for probation appointments after a needle wound in his leg got infected.

Lockey, 30, has been jailed for a year after a judge heard how he first breached the order within two weeks of it being made.

Guy Draper, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Lockey was spared a jail term on September 16 this year.

As well as the suspended sentence he was told to complete a drug rehabilitation requirement and two-year supervision order.

But he first failed to turn up for a probation appointment on Wednesday, September 29, before missing the two following Wednesdays.

The court heard that the first two were ‘home visits’ but he was not there when the probation officer went to his home.

After his fourth missed meeting, on October 27, he was breached and in the weeks since he has missed a further 10 appointments.

Lockey, of Downton Road, Penhill, admitted being in breach of a suspended sentence order.

Martin Wiggins, defending, said his client had got clean of drugs having spent five months on remand before he was sentenced.

“Within a few days he was approached by an old friend who offered him heroin. He unwisely decided he could try a taste of it without falling back,” he said.

Although he had fallen back into drug use so quickly and failed on the order he said the probation service had indicated they were still prepared to work with him.

But activating the sentence Judge Euan Ambrose said that as well as the four missed appointments before he was in breach, Lockey had missed a further 10.

“That is not even close to being good enough in the early stage of an order which with all the assurances that you had turned a corner and all the good work you had put in while in custody,” said Judge Ambrose.

He said when he passed sentence earlier in the autumn he took account of the time spent in custody on remand so those days will not count against the jail time he will serve.

Lockey said he was the driver and look out in the raid on a house in Rotton Row, Wanborough, on Monday, April 19.

The woman who lived there had taken her children swimming and returned just over two hours later to find out they had been burgled.

The raiders got away with two flat screen TVs, one with a 52-inch screen the other of 32 inches, a video camera, some gold jewellery and precious stones including sapphires and opals.

A neighbour had spotted a grey Vauxhall Zafira parked in the drive. The details of the number plate were passed to the police and it was found to be Lockey’s car.

The court was told he had a long history of offending with burglaries in 1993 and 1994, when he was still a youth and continual offending ever since.

In August 2009 he was jailed for three years for a series of offences including stealing a number of sat-nav devices from cars while on early release from an earlier sentence.