A homeless drug addict who was desperate to quit heroin solved all his problems by breaking a window, a court was told yesterday.

Karl Doyle, 30, faced a seven- month wait to be vetted for a Methadone withdrawal programme.

But after he broke the window in frustration, at Teesside University, Middlesbrough, he jumped the queue and was accepted, said his lawyer.

Solicitor James Watson told Teesside magistrates: "The idiocy of the system is that someone in his position can only access the help he wants through criminal justice system. Only if he commits a criminal offence will people then unlock the resources that are needed. He was genuinely desperate. He had no money, no home and he was a heroin addict.

"He broke a window in despair, went to the police station to confess it. He appeared in court, was sent to a probation hostel and the probation service managed to get him a place on the Methadone withdrawal scheme. He has jumped the queue."

Doyle, now living in the South Bank hostel, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to the May 23 criminal damage.

He was put on probation for nine months with a condition that he lives at the hostel for six months. The magistrates made no order for compensation.

Mr Watson added: "I ask you to accept his genuine remorse that he has had to damage somebody else's property in order to gain a roof over his head."