A SERIAL criminal who has racked up 24 convictions at the age of 20 has been given one last chance to mend his ways.

Kyle Chadbone, of Windmill Road, Headington, admitted possessing 14 bags of varying quantities of cannabis on October 10 – breaching a suspended sentence given in January.

But he was told by Judge Gordon Risius at Oxford Crown Court on Monday that he had five months to prove himself.

The decision follows Chadbone’s last crown court appearance in April, when Recorder John Hardy warned him that if he stepped out of line again, he would go to jail.

But Judge Risius said he would sentence Chadbone on April 5 next year and warned him to “stay out of trouble.”

The judge said: “You are 20 years of age. You already have 24 convictions for 45 offences recorded against you.

“The reason it is serious is this year you have been sentenced already on five occasions.

“Your plea of guilty means you are in breach of your suspended sentence and you were warned at the time that any breaches could result in it being activated.

“To make matters worse, you failed to turn up to your second session of your problem-solving course.”

Chadbone was given a suspended sentence in January after trying to pawn items, including a Second World War medal, taken in a burglary.

Just months later in April, Chadbone admitted common assault, damaging property, theft, handling stolen goods and breaching a suspended sentence.

By the time he was 16, he had been arrested for a catalogue of crimes including burglary, assault and possession of a firearm.

At 16, he was given an Asbo excluding him from the Barton estate until 2010.

Judge Risius added: “The difference is that I don’t know whether or not you are now motivated to stop your persistent offending, so I am not going to sentence you today.

“Instead I am going to defer sentence for five months so you can prove to me you are serious.

“I will expect the probation service to provide me with an up-to-date report on your progress.

“So it is up to you from now on. Stay out of trouble.

“Do everything they tell you to do because if you don’t I will expect the probation service to say and you will be brought back to court straight away.”