A MAN who turned to crime after being horrifically injured outside a pub has avoided a jail sentence.

Martin Beard broke into a house and stole a £500 stereo unit which was sold to buy crack cocaine, Worcester Crown Court was told.

In 1994, the 36-year-old had a screwdriver pushed through his right eye after a name-calling incident, said Peter Arnold, defending.

The tool entered his brain and caused mental impairment.

Mr Arnold said Beard became a man who was easily led and a heroin addict.

He had already served a six-month sentence for another burglary and had convictions for assault, theft and drug possession.

Sentencing him to a three-year community rehabilitation order, Judge Ian Morris said his criminality was linked to his terrible injury.

But he warned it would not always be an excuse and Beard could expect jail if he raided another house.

"It was rather a mean offence, stealing from a person you knew," the judge added. "Your escapism into the realm of drugs is understandable - but it has to stop."

Denis Desmond, prosecuting, said Beard, of The Dale, Droitwich, who admitted burglary, broke into a woman's house in the town's Chawson Road, on Monday, September 3. He had visited the victim before but this time she was not at home.

He and two other men loaded the stereo and speakers into a car and sold them in Birmingham to buy drugs valued at £140.

Mr Arnold said Beard was making an effort to kick drugs and was taking the heroin substitute methadone.

He explained a 13-year-old boy was acquitted of the attack on the defendant after a crown court trial.

He added: "He's not the man he was. It's tragic - now he's not only brain-damaged but damaged by heroin too. All those around him are in despair."

Mr Arnold said Beard hoped to leave the area and with the help of the charity Turning Point go on a residential course to put drugs behind him.