HEROIN addict Adam Jarvis dropped a roll-up cigarette during a burglary and gave detectives the DNA to put him away.

But at Hereford Crown Court the burglar got a break. Instead of a custody term that normally came with the crime spree he confessed to - two thefts, five burglaries and 10 deceptions with nine others taken into consideration - an 'ashamed' Jarvis got a last chance to get back on track.

Sentence was deferred for six months while Jarvis, of Edgar Street, Hereford, attended a course to address his addiction. Mr Recorder Cliff urged the 'articulate' 20-year-old against wasting his life and letting himself and his family down when the alternative would normally be at least 18 months imprisonment.

Hooked on heroin while still in school, Jarvis only started stealing to fund his habit in 2001 and, the court heard, already had an extensive record.

Michael Aspinall, prosecuting, said even Jarvis's own mother was a victim of the cheque and credit card deceptions he admitted to.

His downfall was the dropped cigarette during a break in at Kilvert Road, Hereford, last December. On the roll-up was enough DNA for direct identification.

Jarvis, said Dele Alakija, defending, was 'quite ashamed' of what he had done and - having been off heroin while on remand - now wanted help getting his life together.

Recorder Cliff said the deferred sentence was a 'last opportunity' for Jarvis to do just that.