A DRUG addict was overcome with emotion as he read out a letter in court documenting his addiction and crime spree.

Christopher Daley, of Orford Lane, was jailed for two years at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after admitting an offence of burglary and one of going equipped for theft.

The 42-year-old could be seen crying in the dock as he opened up about how his divorce was the catalyst that pushed him back into a life of crime.

The court heard how Daley broke into Warrington Collegiate on September 13, stealing a Hitachi projector which was worth £500.

One week later he returned to the college off Winwick Road armed with a pair of bolt cutters.

Daley, who has 61 convictions for 200 separate offences, was later identified by the CCTV at the site.

When he was arrested by detectives, Daley, who has a daughter in her 20s and a five-year-old granddaughter, gave 'no comment' to interviewing officers.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how the defendant was shocked when his wife asked for a divorce after bringing up her sons as if they were his own.

The couple had been married for 14 years.

Weeping as Judge Conrad QC allowed him to read out a letter penned by himself in Altcourse Prison, he told the court: "I'm sorry for wasting your time and the public's money.

"I hate what drugs make me do.

"My wife asked for a divorce and it broke my heart."

John Banasko, defending, described his client's words as 'a plea from the heart' as he is now moving in the 'right direction' after being placed on a reduction course of methadone.

But he was told to serve two years in jail after admitting an offence of burglary and one of going equipped for theft.