Drug support made me quit

A former £100,000-a-year graphic designer who destroyed his career and marriage through cocaine and heroin addiction has told how a new criminal sentence has helped to turn his life around.

The 35-year-old is one of the first offenders in London to be put through a drug treatment and testing order (DTTO), which involves counselling and therapy five days per week, regular drugs tests and monthly returns to court to show he is drug-free.

Courts in London are now handing down nearly 60 DTTOs a month to persistent criminals who rob and steal to fund drug habits. Michael's story shows how the regime - which costs around a quarter of a typical prison sentence - could have a real impact on drug-driven crime.

In his early twenties, Michael was earning a six-figure salary, driving a Mercedes and had a beautiful girlfriend and a large house when he started taking cocaine at weekends. But six years later he was divorced, unemployed and stealing to pay for his heroin habit. He quickly escalated to snorting cocaine in the office to keep up with the pace at work. "We would chop up 3ft-long lines and snort them through the day. Everyone did it. I used to spend £30,000 a year on coke, but with my salary it wasn't a problem."

His situation worsened when he began to use heroin and three months later was addicted and out of work. With no job and an addiction to feed, he began shoplifting on a daily basis.

After the breakdown of his marriage he moved in with other addicts and also began using crack. "Then police caught me smoking heroin at a bus stop and I went to court."

In August this year he was given a 12-month DTTO. He said: "I begged the judge not to send me to jail because I knew I would come out, still have the addiction and continue reoffending."

Four months into the programme, Michael is already noticing a difference. He has gone to live with his parents and is now clean. He said: "The DTTO helped me off drugs but it also helped with problems of guilt and low self-esteem. It's not an easy option, it's a hard commitment for 12 months. "I'm happy again and I can see a future for myself now."

Michael, from Edmonton, has spoken as the Government prepares to relaunch a national drugs strategy. It will shift spending towards treatment, after research showed every £1 spent on treatment saves £3 for the justice system.

Getting addicts into treatment would cut tens of thousands of property crimes, but the Audit Commission has warned that waiting lists for drug treatment are too long and it is almost impossible for people to get help without first being convicted.