A HEROIN addict from Cirencester who stole to feed his habit has been given a chance to get his life back on track after his father told a judge how two of his sons had already died in tragic circumstances.

Charles Goble, 62, also from Cirencester, lost one son to suicide and another to drugs and has turned to progressive treatment in Portugal in a bid to save his remaining two children.

Eldest son Dean Goble, 31, a former petty criminal and cocaine user, turned his life around after three months at the £1,500-a-month Portuguese centre, which is based on intimate one-to-one sessions rather then group work.

He is now working as a gardener and hopes to go into drug counselling himself.

Now younger brother Casey, 30, of Melmore Gardens, has been given the same opportunity to submit himself to the Portuguese method.

Father Charles told Judge Jamie Tabor at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday he would put up the money to send him away for as long as it took to rid his system of heroin.

He said: "My son Dean came home from the course eight weeks ago and there has been 100 percent improvement.

"I've had rows with Casey, I've disowned him, but I want him to have this last chance. I was a bit of a toe-rag when I was younger, but now I live a different life.

"The one-on-one tuition offered in Portugal is completely different to over here. Rehab over here is a joke. I don't want to see any more of my sons die."

He explained that one of his sons, Darren, committed suicide at 19, and a second, Jason, died aged 29 after abusing drugs.

"I can't have that happening again," Mr Goble said.

Casey Goble pleaded guilty burgling a house in Hereward Road, Cirencester, in March, by snatching a handbag from the kitchen table while the householders were upstairs putting their three children to bed.

After hearing from his father Judge Tabor agreed to adjourn sentence for six months to give Goble the chance to prove he can get clean on foreign soil.

But the judge warned he would want a detailed report on his progress and promised he would jail him if he was caught using at the clinic.

Judge Tabor said: "I have to weigh up what is better for the public - to lock you up for 15 to 18 months, untreated, uncured - or to at least give you the chance to rid yourself of a vicious and nasty addiction."