A criminal with a long-term drug problem was handed a four-month suspended sentence after he was caught trying to sell stolen goods.

Clifford Manning, 49, of Cowley Road, was arrested after he and another person went into an electrical shop in the Oxford area and tried to sell a tablet and a laptop on October 12.

At Manning's sentencing on Wednesday [17/2] at Oxford Crown Court prosecution barrister Nigel Ogborne [corr] said the owner of the shop checked the items, discovered they were registered to another person and called the police.

Mr Ogborne said that when officers went to Manning's his home he barricaded himself into his bedroom, forcing them to break the door down.

The court heard police found a number of items in the property, some of which had been stolen during a burglary in Ferry Road earlier the same month.

Mr Ogborne said police also found a "small quantity" of amphetamine, a Class B drug.

Mr Ogborne said: "The defendant said to the police that he had been left the items by a 'white geezer' and he did not know they were stolen.

"He admitted trying to sell the laptop and tablet."

Manning later pleaded guilty to one charge of handling stolen goods, one charge of fraud and one charge of possessing amphetamine.

Jane Brady, defending, said Manning had been addicted to crack cocaine and heroin since he was 15 and was "extremely sorry" for what he had done.

Judge Patrick Eccles told Manning he was at a "turning point" in his life and sentenced him to four months in prison suspended for 12 months.

Manning was also placed under a curfew for 28 days, ordered to take part in drug rehabilitation treatment and ordered to pay £160 costs.