A NOTORIOUS drug addict has been sent to jail for driving whilst disqualified.

Father-of-two Matthew Amor, 30, admitted the charge before Blandford magistrates.

Amor of Portman Mews, Bryanston, also pleaded guilty to begging outside Safeway and to breaching a conditional discharge.

Prosecuting, Tom Garn-ham told the court a police officer on mobile patrol had seen Amor get into a white Austin Metro at the Ham carpark in Blandford.

He drove out into West Street, turned up through the entrance to Bryanston School, then veered off the road, jumped out and ran away, Mr Garnham said.

Amor had attempted to run off the next day when an officer attended at Portman Mews.

He had been disqualified in May for two years, he said.

The offence had been committed whilst he was on bail and in contravention of a conditional discharge for not answering bail, the court heard.

The prosecutor said Amor had been seen to beg on two occasions in Blandford outside Safeway.

He admitted in interview he had been begging for five weeks to support his habit rather than steal, the court heard.

Defending, Ian Daly said Amor had been an addict for 15 years and though a persistent offender, the rate of his offending had slowed down as he got older.

He was in a steady relationship with a woman who had beaten her own addiction and was encouraging him in his efforts to beat his habit. Mr Daly asked the court to adjourn sentencing so that a suitable drug testing and treatment order could be found.

Probation officer Linda Green said that all the available treatments in Dorset were based on a 12-step treatment which had a religious basis to it - something which Mr Amor could not accept. She said other avenues were being explored.

But the magistrates sentenced him to two months' imprisonment for driving while disqualified and 14 days - to run consecutively - for failing his bail.

He received a further driving disqualification for 12 months to run concurrently. No separate penalty was issued for begging and no costs were ordered.

Amor was the subject of The Cook Report where he was filmed offering heroin to an undercover television reporter.