Desperate crack addict Allen Duffy got his wish yesterday when a judge jailed him for three years.

Duffy - who had admitted offences including theft, burglary and dangerous driving - wanted a long sentence so he could be sent on a drug-users' course at a prison in Devon.

His barrister Jayne Chaplain told Bradford Crown Court: "Effectively he is saying if he is given probation it will not be enough and he will simply return to the streets of Keigh-ley and his crack habit. He does not feel he is ready to be returned to the community."

Judge Roderick Adams told Duffy: "The unusual feature of this sentencing exercise is that I have been told you actually want a custodial sentence and of sufficient length to allow you to undertake a course of treatment in the prison environment which is going to last 12 months." He said it was 'refreshing' to read a pre-sentence report which contained such an attitude, but he stressed that he was not imposing a longer-than-normal sentence because of that.

The court heard how Duffy, 26, of Staveley Road, Ingrow, even stole £600-worth of jewellery from his grandmother and later sold it for just £80. Miss Chaplain said he was particularly ashamed of that matter and was full of remorse.

In another incident a police officer tried to speak to Duffy after seeing him in a Metro car in the Church Street area of Keighley. After the officer got in the passenger seat Duffy drove off and crashed through two fences near a petrol station before colliding with a wall.

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