HEROIN ADDICT IS SPARED JAIL

A DRUG and alcohol addict found with stashes of heroin on him has been
warned he has just weeks to live unless he can kick the habit, a court
has been told.

Wayne Ding, who dozed in the dock at Cambridge Crown Court, is
battling his demons with the help of his doctor and a drink
rehabilitation unit, but may not have much time left.

The 27-year-old, who has been in court many times before for crime he
carried out to fund his addictions, admitted possession of heroin on
city streets during two police stop-and-search operations.

He was caught first in December when approached by an officer in Mill
Road. As he fled, he dumped a package over a hedge. It turned out to
have 11 wraps of heroin inside, worth UKP110 on the street. Another wrap
was found in his pocket, said Sara Walker, for the
prosecution.

A few weeks later, Ding - on police bail for the earlier drugs matter
- - was stopped in Fitzroy Street. This time he had 12 wraps of heroin,
worth around UKP340 in his pockets.

He told officers: "I am really screwed now."

The prosecution accepted the heroin was for Ding's own use and left
two other charges - possession with intent to supply, which Ding
denied - to lie on the file.

Patrick Rappo, for Ding, said he had been in such a dire state he had
been given a month to live on August 2 and was now taking methadone
and a cocktail of other drugs as medication for withdrawal under the
watchful eye of his GP. He has also been attending a drink
rehabilitation service.

"He is doing what he can, with the help of others, as well as his
girlfriend. But it is difficult to know what the future holds," Mr
Rappo added.

Ding was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years,
with an order to undergo two years probation service supervision and
to continue to undergo treatment for his drug and alcohol problems.

Passing sentence, Judge Gareth Hawkesworth told him: "You have an
appalling record - one which reveals all too clearly the kind of
trouble drug addicts get into - of repeated appearances in front of
the courts, all sorts of different sentences tried and failed, and all
the while offending getting more and more serious and desperate to try
and service an escalating drug habit.

"I accept the threat to your life if you continue to abuse alcohol and
drugs is a far greater deterrent hanging over your head than anything
I can do."