A JEWELLERY shop burglar whose lenient sentence provoked outrage has avoided jail again.

When Carlton Ho-Ten-Pow was given a suspended sentence earlier this year for a diamond heist the justice secretary was contacted.

Today Ho-Ten-Pow appeared in court having been caught stealing to pay for drugs and was given another last chance.

David Wilson, prosecuting, said he was caught stealing £340 worth of jeans before being caught in Church Street, Colchester on February 13.

He admitted one count of theft the next day and was committed for sentence at Ipswich Crown Court because he was subject to a suspended sentence and a community order already.

The 36-year-old, formerly of Mario Way, was given a community order in April last year for battery and criminal damage, and has never completed the unpaid work requirement.

He was given a suspended sentence, in January, having broken into Ernest Jones jewellers in Culver Square in October.

Ho-Ten-Pow and another used a hammer to smash through the window before stealing more than £8,000 in jewellery, most of which has not been recovered.

He was spotted by members of the public, on CCTV and by police after getting stuck at a dead end in car.

He admitted one count of burglary.

He already had six convictions for 22 offences including drug trafficking.

However the father-of-two had his two year jail sentence suspended for two years, was ordered to observe a drug rehabilitation requirement for 12 months, carry out 40 days of rehabilitation activity requirement and told to pay £500 compensation for the almost £10,000 theft and damage.

Since avoiding jail in January Ho-Ten-Pow has failed to obey the terms of his suspended sentence and committed another crime.

Laura Austin, mitigating, said: “When this order was launched there were some hiccups.”

She claimed his methadone was not available and his accommodation was not secure.

She added: “The reason he stole the four pairs of jeans was a cry for help.”

She said he is now off drugs.

Judge Rupert Overbury added ten days to his rehabilitation activity requirement for breach of the suspended sentence.

He ordered the drug rehabilitation requirement to start again and jailed him for a month for the theft but ordered this be taken as time already served on remand.

He said: “One more chance. One more and that is all.”

The suspended sentence was not activated despite a probation report stating his previous sentence was not working.