A burglar pleaded with a court to lock him up so he could get clean from drugs.

Lloyd Best, 28, a former chef at Carluccio's Caffe in Oxford Castle, was jailed for 18 months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Best admitted breaking into a home in Stable Close, Oxford, last November and stealing a laptop which he sold to pay for heroin.

Defending, Hugh Williams told the court Best would not consent to a community drug rehabilitation order, but preferred to be jailed to complete a drugs programme he began when remanded three weeks ago.

Mr Williams said: "He doesn't think he will survive or complete such a course in the community this time. He wants to become drug free and thinks the best chance he has of coming off drugs is in prison.

"His desire is to come off drugs. He is not throwing the opportunity of a non-custodial sentence in the face of the court, he just doesn't think it is going to work."

Best, of Latimer Road, Headington, has been taking drugs since he was 11 and has been hooked on heroin since he was 15, Mr Williams added.

A pre-sentence report suggested a drugs rehabilitation community order was an option for the court.

Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, said Best broke into a shed and stole a spade to smash his way through a window in Stable Close last year.

He stole a laptop which he sold for £100 to pay for heroin.

Police found him a month later after discovering a fingerprint on a screwdriver left at the scene.

Best asked the court to take into consideration a further seven burglaries and one theft between 1996 and 2001 during sentencing.