A senior probation officer's son who continued to offend despite being on a suspended sentence has again walked free from court.

A judge told Sean Drayton he was taking an "exceptional" course when he decided not to jail him for robbery last summer.

Earlier this year the 35–year-old, whose father is a senior probation officer in London, was thrown off a drug rehabilitation course for providing positive tests.

Now Drayton, who is living in a Chippenham pub, has been caught in possession of crack cocaine and stealing from a supermarket.

But he has again escaped a jail term after another judge imposed a new suspended sentence to run alongside the existing one.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how police stopped Drayton on Cricklade Road, Swindon, in the early hours in August.

After telling him they were going to carry out a drugs search they spotted him drop something out of his back pocket.

When they picked it up he claimed it was a vitamin C tablet but later admitted it was crack cocaine.

A few weeks later at lunchtime on Tuesday September 9 he was spotted stealing a milk shake from Tesco on Ocotal Way.

Mr Meeke said the offences were committed during the course of a one year jail term which had been suspended for two years last summer.

The sentence was imposed for a violent bag snatch on a woman close to Faringdon Park just hours after Drayton had been spotted by police at a notorious crack house.

Drayton, of the Little George, Chippenham, but formerly of Naunton Road, Walcot, and Devizes Road, Old Town, admitted theft and possessing class A drugs. He also admitted failing to attend court.

Rob Ross, defending, said the two offences which brought his client before the court were relatively minor and may not lead to the risk of a prison sentence on their own.

However he accepted the fact that they were committed during the course of the suspended sentence for the robbery made the matter more serious.

But earlier this month he said his client had been drug tested and for the first time in a long while was found to be clear of all illicit substances.

Since moving away from Swindon he said his client had managed to finally break his addiction to crack cocaine which had fuelled his offending.

He said Drayton had spent six months in custody on remand before getting the suspended sentence.

Recorder Don Tait said: "You submitted to a drug test on October 10, 2008, and you were negative for all substances. That in your history is quite an achievement."

He imposed a five month jail term suspended for a year and put him on a 7pm to 7am curfew for four months adding "It will ruin your Christmas, but there you go."