An addict whose rap sheet of more than 300 offences was labelled ‘quite astonishing’ has been given a chance to turn his life around.

Simon White, 43, has spent almost the whole of 2022 in Bullingdon prison after he was charged and remanded at the start of the year for being involved in dealing heroin and crack cocaine in Rose Hill.

Prosecutor Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court on Monday that police found White in Dashwood Road on May 20 last year.

Also found by the officers was 13 wraps of heroin and crack already prepared for sale on the street and a larger lump of crack cocaine. Police officers discovered digital scales and two ‘drug phones’ that contained text messages pointing to them being used to set up deals with customers.

White also admitted eight counts of shoplifting from the same shop – Cotswold Outdoor in Bicester – between October 2020 and September 2021.

His photo was on the shop wall as a ‘frequent shoplifter’ when it was noticed by an off-duty police officer browsing the store. She picked up the case and, using CCTV, linked him to eight thefts.

When the case came before Judge Ian Pringle KC on Monday, White asked for a further 24 shop thefts to be taken into consideration – allowing him to wipe the slate clean.

The defendant, of HMP Bullingdon, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to possession with intent to supply class A drugs and theft.

His record of more than 100 previous convictions for over 300 offences was described by Judge Pringle as ‘quite astonishing’.

“This is one of those cases where it would be easy to pass a prison sentence of some length. We’d be back in the revolving door, no doubt seeing Mr White in one, two, three years’ time,” the judge said.

He had been assessed as suitable for the Oxford rehabilitation project, which sees defendants whose offending is linked to their addiction placed in residential rehab as an alternative to a lengthy prison sentence.

Judge Pringle noted it was the ‘first chance I think he’s ever had of having a residential rehabilitation place’.

White, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Bullingdon, was given a three year community order. He will spend Christmas at one residential drug rehabilitation centre before moving to a second facility in the new year, the court was told.

Peter du Feu, mitigating, passed on his client’s ‘profound gratitude’ to those who had helped him.

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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

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