A thief turned to drugs after claiming he was under the curse of a Pakistani witch doctor, a court heard, writes Nick Evans.

Oxford Crown Court was told Imran Nabi's family started practising black magic against him after he refused to take part in an arranged marriage in Pakistan.

He was jailed for 15 months after he admitted shoplifting and attempted burglary.

Sentencing him, Judge Anthony King told him that his addiction to crack cocaine would only do him further harm.

He added: "My advice to you is to keep off the drugs. Whatever is the cause of the difficulties in your mind, drugs are doing you only harm."

Nabi, 21, of Old Grimsbury Road, Banbury, claimed his family in Pakistan had started practising black magic against him after he refused to take part in an arranged marriage there. He said that after arriving in England he had turned to crack cocaine to counter the effects of visions he was having.

Nabi was caught stealing two watches from jewellers Ernest Jones in the Castle Centre, Banbury, and a mobile phone from Marks & Spencer in Oxford. He admitted both theft charges.

He also pleaded guilty to attempted burglary at a house in Cowley Road, Oxford.

Nigel Daly, defending, said: "He clearly has psychological problems, but it is not a recognised illness. It seems to have been worsened by drug use, but he does not believe that."

Mr Daly said Nabi had become obsessed with black magic after spending time in Pakistan with an uncle who practised it.

After refusing to go through with the arranged marriage, Nabi had married another girl, with whom he had since had a daughter. Both were still in Pakistan and he was trying to bring them to Britain.