A DRUG addict who broke into a charity shop and stole £3,800 from a safe has escaped a jail sentence.

Police took a long time to link Craig Foster with the break-in and he has since served a two-year prison sentence for a raid on licensed premises.

Judge Michael Mott said it would be more beneficial to society to give the 24-year-old a chance to break his heroin habit.

Foster was bailed on condition he attended an assessment for a rehabilitation course. He admitted burglary.

Nigel Reader, prosecuting, said a break-in was discovered at the shop in Holme Lacy Road, Hereford, on April 26, 2000.

Foster used keys he found in a manager's desk to open the safe and steal the contents.

But he was then jailed for another break-in and only interviewed for the safe theft by police while he was serving his sentence.

Foster's fingerprints were discovered on a cash tin inside the safe.

Mr Reader said since 1994 he had committed burglary nearly every year and sometimes twice a year.

His raids included targeting a dairy and Hereford College of Technology.

Stephen Dent, defending, said Foster, of Belmont Road, Hereford, started on drugs at the age of 15 and progressed to heroin at 18. By 1999 he was injecting every day.

He had tried once before to kick the habit but no funding had been available for a residential course.

"He is not an evil man but has been caught up in the throes of a bad drug," added Mr Dent. "Since his release from jail he has attempted to steer clear of old associates."

The judge ordered Foster to come back to court on Friday, October 26, to see if he was suitable for drug rehabilitation.