A HEROIN addict sniffed glue as a way of fighting his drug addiction, a court heard.

Jason Croke returned to his glue sniffing habit of 15 years ago to try to stop taking heroin and shoplifting, his solicitor Rob Ross told Swindon magistrates yesterday.

A week after he was given a conditional discharge for an attempted theft from a car, Croke, of Burbage Road, Penhill, stole glue from a hardware store.

Prosecutor Lynne Henderson said he was later seen sniffing from a bread bag in Merton Field, Stratton.

Aware that young children were playing football and riding their bikes nearby, police officers appealed to him to stop but he continued taking deep breaths from the bag.

He was finally arrested for causing a public nuisance when a couple walking their dog saw what he was doing and had to make a wide detour around him, she said.

The conditional discharge had been imposed on August 10 after Jones admitted smashing a car's window to try to steal some teddies from the back shelf for his mother.

Croke, 28, pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody, causing a public nuisance, shoplifting and breaching a conditional discharge.

Mr Ross said that Croke had been a glue sniffer in the past but had not used it for a long time.

He said he had developed a heroin addiction and in order to try and stop using it he had decided to sniff glue again.

Mr Ross said the decision was a bizarre one but at least it was a step in the right direction.

Croke had taken the matter further by getting an appointment with a doctor and a community psychiatric nurse at Penhill surgery.

Asking for pre-sentence reports, Mr Ross said: "This is a young man who needs help and punishment rather than just punishment."

Croke was granted conditional bail until September 16 when he is due to be sentenced.

Tina Clarke