PETER Smith was a one-man crimewave who carried out 57 burglaries across Swindon in just 10 months.

He was fuelled by the desperate need to feed his heroin addiction.

Today he is starting a four-year jail term, but there remain up to 2,000 heroin addicts in Swindon, many of them equally desperate.

Smith stole thousands of pounds' worth of property, ranging from televisions and videos to jewellery and mobile phones in the series of break-ins.

A judge at Swindon Crown Court heard that the 26-year-old, of Lilac Court, had a string of previous convictions and had been sentenced to 33 months behind bars in 1998 for house burglary.

Jane Warren, prosecuting, said that at an earlier hearing Smith had pleaded guilty to five counts of burglary and asked for 54 other offences 52 of which were burglaries to be taken into consideration at sentencing.

She said the five break-ins he was charged with took place between April last year and February 7 this year and followed a similar pattern.

On each occasion the householder returned home to find their front door would not open because it was deadlocked from the inside after Smith had broken in at the back.

One of the offences took place at a house in Florence Street, Gorse Hill, when he made off with electrical items and jewellery worth more than £6,000.

The court heard that the woman who lived there had been left devastated by the burglary and felt sick and uncomfortable sleeping in her bed at night.

When Smith was first interviewed by police he refused to answer questions but he later admitted everything and told police about the 50-plus other offences.

The court was told that Smith had previous convictions for 21 offences including burglaries in 1993, 1994, 1996 and in 1998, when he received the 33-month term in prison.

Rob Ross, defending, said Smith started offending at a young age but tried to straighten out his life after his last prison term, getting a job, settling down with a partner and having a child.

"When that broke down he sought solace in drink and rather more importantly heroin to blank out the disappointment," he said. "He has made efforts to ensure he can live a drug free life in prison and come out and live a useful life."

Jailing him for four years, Recorder Malcolm Gibney said: "You are a man who has been before the courts on a good number of occasions.

"You got 33 months at Exeter Crown Court in 1998 for similar offences and it is painfully clear that you did not learn by that experience."

He also warned him that on his release, were he to be convicted of another house burglary, he would be liable to get a minimum sentence of three years.