SQUANDERING two chances to meet the demands of a community penalty has cost a teenager his liberty. He has been jailed for 12 months for breaching the order. Warren Gray s first chance came when he was given a suspended sentence last March for an attempte

SQUANDERING two chances to meet the demands of a community penalty has cost a teenager his liberty.

He has been jailed for 12 months for breaching the order.

Warren Gray's first chance came when he was given a suspended sentence last March for an attempted burglary of a house in Stevenage. The order also meant he had to be supervised and do unpaid work.

But four months later he was hauled back to Luton Crown Court because he was not doing the unpaid work. There a judge removed the requirement to do the work but extended the supervision period.

But on Thursday he was back at court again, having failed to attend his supervision sessions on two occasions, said prosecutor Anne Donelon.

Recorder Alistair Sharp told him: "You were given not only one but two chances, and your order was made less onerous. The probation service take seriously any breaches of such orders and it is right that they do so. I have no alternative but to implement the sentence."

Gray, 18, of Gonville Crescent, Stevenage, pleaded guilty to breaching the order.

Alasdair Smith, defending, said: "Sending him to prison would be a retrograde step. Belatedly he has been in regular contact with his supervising officer, and there is no suggestion that he has committed any further offences, which shows that that part of the order is working.