A 39-year-old man with 72 convictions for 138 offences escaped a prison sentence after admitting two attempted burglaries.

Jason Griffiths, of no fixed address, tried to break into two houses in Wellington Place, Oxford on New Year’s Eve.

The former heroin addict was given an 18-month community order with a substance-abuse programme and a three-month curfew, at Oxford Crown Court on Friday.