A judge said it was with ‘reluctance’ that he sent a former British Army soldier to prison for drug dealing.

Charlie Winwood, 24, had originally been spared an immediate prison sentence for dealing drugs in Banbury last year.

He was arrested earlier this autumn when he failed to come to court to answer allegations he had breached the suspended sentence order by falling out of touch.

Having talked a circuit judge into giving him another chance to comply with the order, he lost touch with probation again – then, once again, failed to attend his court hearing.

Returning before the same judge on Friday who had given him a second chance in November, Winwood said he was ‘kind of glad’ to have been arrested.

“At least I’m somewhere safe for Christmas,” he added. The former soldier, who became briefly involved in dealing drugs after he became homeless following his medical discharge from the army, said the friend with whom he thought he would be able to stay in November could not have him and he had drifted back to living on the streets.

READ MORE: Dealer told pal 'we're going to prison, lad' when they were caught

Judge Michael Gledhill KC said: “I don’t think I’ve got any option but to implement the suspended sentence, which at least gives you a roof over your head and a chance to take stock.

“I hope that in the year or so that you’ll be in custody you can sort yourself out.”

Winwood explained that when he was released from custody on the last occasion he had had no support finding housing and had found himself homeless. “What do you do? You find yourself getting involved in the riff-raff, as they call it.”

He added that he was ‘very grateful’ to the judge for giving him a chance previously.

“Have a good Christmas,” he added – earning an ‘and you’ in reply from Judge Gledhill.

In November, the court heard Winwood had initially done well on the suspended sentence.

However, he was asked to leave the first supported accommodation placement found for him by the authorities after reports of drug-taking and disputes with other residents.

Moved to new accommodation, he began well and raised £150 for charity in his first week. But the same problems he had experienced in the first placement began and he was kicked out by managers.

The probation service then lost contact with him in September.

 “I was just going through a really bad patch of beating myself up,” he told the judge in November – saying he would ‘succeed’ if he were given a second chance.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward