HEROIN addict Michael King has walked free from court after burgling a house while on bail for other break-ins.

The 25-year-old, who has 60 previous convictions, has been told he is getting his last chance after a judge put him on a drug treatment and testing order.

But King was warned that if he failed he would almost certainly go to jail.

A judge at Swindon Crown Court heard that King had spent time in custody on remand and had been released on bail in January when he committed the offence.

Prosecutor Simon Burns said the thief and his girlfriend went to a house on Curtis Street in response to an advert for a flat to let.

He said that when they got there at 8.30am on January 18 they were told that the premises had been let the previous day.

The woman who had answered the door then went upstairs after closing it but when she came back down she noticed it was slightly ajar.

She then discovered that her handbag which was on the floor near to the unlocked door was missing and contacted the police.

Mr Burns said that within minutes of getting the bag king had taken one of the credit cards and withdrawn £200 from the bank as he also found its PIN number inside.

Mr Burns said that at the time of the burglary King was awaiting sentence for two commercial burglaries, an attempted deception and possessing heroin. He said King had stolen £75 in staff tips from The Spot in Goodwin Court Old Town, broken into Bevirs solicitors on Regent Circus and tried to use a stolen credit card at Iceland to get cash back.

King, formerly of Radnor Street, pleaded guilty to three burglaries, attempted deception and possessing heroin and asked for a further burglary of a dentist's surgery to be taken into consideration.

Mr Burns said that King had a long history of crime with offences of robbery, burglary and theft.

Rob Ross, defending, said that while his client had a 'horrendous' record he had never committed a domestic burglary before.

He said it was an opportunistic offence and at the lower end of the scale for offences of its type.

Since he had been remanded in custody again he said King had gone through a prison detox programme and was now clean of drugs.

During that time he said his client's partner had found them a flat at another address on Curtis Street where he could now live.

Passing a drug treatment and testing order, Recorder Simon Rainey QC said he hoped it would help stop King's need to offend.

But he added: "If you come back here you will almost certainly face a prison sentence and a long one, so this is a last chance for you."

As well as a six-month order, he also imposed an 18-month probation order and a six-month curfew between 6.30pm and 8am.

Tamash Lal