A HEROIN addict with a string of convictions was caught by undercover police and jailed for 12 months yesterday.

Alan Harrison, 31, who was already serving a two-year sentence for burglaries when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court, admitted offering to supply heroin.

The court heard that Harrison, of no fixed address, had been an addict for six years and relied on his crimes to fund his heavy habit.

Caroline Goodwin, prosecuting, said: "Two test purchase officers were waiting at Quayside House, in Sunderland, when they came across this defendant in October last year.

"They said they were looking for heroin and this defendant offered to arrange a supply of the drug. In due course, the officers were handed a foil wrap containing heroin."

Miss Goodwin also told the court Harrison admitted a burglary charge from December last year, when almost £1,800 worth of property was stolen from a block of flats in Worcester Terrace, Sunderland