ON the face of it, it seems that four years jail is surely not enough punishment for a man who has put so many people through so much misery.

Peter Smith, sentenced to 33 months behind bars in 1998 for 21 offences including house burglary, has been jailed again, for the same reasons.

Except this time, his catalogue of crime, fuelled by a desperate need to feed a heroin addiction, led him to steal from an incredible 57 homes in Swindon.

But what is more worrying is the fact that Smith is one of 2,000 heroin addicts in Swindon, many of them equally desperate.

Heroin and crime go hand in hand, and it is obvious that addicts, such as Smith, must be helped. Sadly, it seems jail has done little to curb his habit.

With prison numbers swelling, it is now time to look at alternative methods of dealing with these offenders.

That does not mean the justice system should go soft on addicts who steal.

Put simply, it is obvious current policy is just not working.