A burglar who stole tea, coffee and food during a low value heist has walked free after transforming himself from a "scruffy junkie" into a doting dad.
Mark Little was 20 years into living a "squalid" life as a drug addict when he broke into a flat where there little of value.
A court heard his pitiful haul included a phone charger, tea bags, food, salt, coffee, an ashtray and coasters during the break-in in Elswick, Newcastle.
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Little, who has 104 previous convictions, was facing a minimum three-year prison sentence as a so-called "three strike burglar".
But after hearing he has finally quit heroin and cocaine following the birth of his daughter, a judge gave him a chance to prove he can stay out of trouble by suspending his prison sentence.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the burglary happened at Elliot Terrace, Elswick, on August 18 last year while the occupier popped out for an hour.
He returned to find cupboards open, milk on the floor, the window open and the stolen items missing. Damage worth £500 to repair had been caused.
Little, 39, of Prinn Place, Sunniside, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to burglary and also admitted theft from a car on the same night, stealing tools and causing damage worth £118 to repair.
All of the stolen items were recovered.
Jamie Adams, defending, said: "He has been a junkie for all of 20 years and lived a squalid lifestyle until recently.
"The one thing that changed his life is the birth of his baby daughter.
"He is well turned out and is not the scruff that he was."
The court heard he has responded well to a drug rehabilitation requirement imposed for a previous offence.
Miss Recorder Davies sentenced him to 12 months suspended for 18 months with 240 hours unpaid work. It will run alongside a previous suspended sentence he is subject to.
The judge told him: "The change in you is very marked and it's very pleasing to see you responding so well to the drug rehabilitation requirement.
"Eleven negative tests in three months, that's worth commending you for.
"This remarkable improvement in your life represents particular circumstances which would make it unjust to send you to prison."
As he left court, Little told the judge: "My daughter is an inspiration now."
