A MAN who became too frightened to attend court or see a probation officer has been jailed for eight weeks.

Anthony Bradford, 21, breached a suspended sentence by failing to keep appointments and observe his curfew.

Plymouth magistrates imposed the jail term which had been hanging over his head since June.

Bradford was also given a community order on that occasion for a burglary in which he stole scrap metal from a garden in May.

Magistrates heard he failed to keep appointments to see a probation officer on June 17 and June 22.

He also failed to explain his absences and observe a curfew on three nights that month.

Bradford, of no fixed address, was convicted of the breaches in a trial held in his absence when he failed to attend court.

Stephen Walker, for Bradford, said he had been homeless and sleeping rough or at friends' homes.

He said Bradford had had problems with his accommodation which had made his curfew 'unworkable'.

Mr Walker said: "He is an inadequate young man and was too frightened to tell anyone about it."

He said Bradford was caught in a vicious circle because he feared prison so much he did not want to meet his probation officer or attend court.

But the court heard his non-compliance with the community order meant he had to be re-sentenced.