A DRUG addict in his 40s faced a stark choice in his life, his lawyer told a court yesterday.
Peter Thomas Roberts, 46, could either stop taking drugs and stop offending, which would let the residents of Wrexham “off the hook” – or he could continue taking drugs and he would die, barrister Paul Smith explained at Mold Crown Court.
“He needs to come off drugs and change his life,” he said.
But Roberts, of Bank Street, Wrexham, was jailed for 32 weeks after he admitted attempted burglary while on licence from a previous prison sentence, and possessing drugs.
The judge, the Recorder Philip Davies, said Roberts had been given previous chances of a drugs rehabilitation order and a suspended sentence but had failed to take them.
The court heard how two men had been spotted acting suspiciously at Hair Cafe and Co in Edgerton Street, Wrexham.
A witness alerted the police and as officers arrived the men hurled something up onto the roof.
An attempt had been made to open a door and after the witness told police what he had seen, officers checked the roof and found bags containing tools.
The second man had already been dealt with by local magistrates, said Philip Clemo, prosecuting.
Mr Smith said Roberts’ offending was to meet his substance misuse.
He had misused substances his entire life and the last conviction resulted in a substantial prison sentence which had not worked because he was back in court again.
The judge said that while it had not worked in the long term, it would have worked in the short term because it prevented him offending while he was in prison.
Mr Smith said Roberts knew he had to change his ways or die.
Roberts, a married man, had become a grandfather two weeks ago, which was something that may encourage him to change his life.