A 34-YEAR-OLD Stroud man once praised by a judge for beating his drug addiction and becoming a mentor to other offenders has been warned he is facing jail again after he admitted two offences of burglary.

Simon Cross, of Hillcrest Road, pleaded guilty on Monday at Gloucester Crown Court to two house burglaries on March 21.

He raided two houses, one on Frome Park Road, where he stole electrical items, cosmetics, jewellery and other personal belongings, and the other on Rodborough Avenue, taking coins and foreign currency of value unknown.

Cross also admitted using threatening behaviour on the same day.

Matthew Harbinson, representing Cross, asked Recorder Paul Dunkels QC to adjourn the case for reports, adding: “He took an excessive amount of Valium, hence the bizarre behaviour – lunacy of the highest order.”

The court heard that due to the number of dwelling burglaries on Cross’ record he now faced a mandatory minimum jail term of three years.

“He is a third strike burglar,” Mr Harbinson said. “I would invite the court to the view that it might not be appropriate in the circumstances.”

The judge agreed to adjourn the case until April 25 so further information could be provided about how Cross had engaged in drug treatment following his last release from jail.

However Recorder Dunkels warned him that a ‘lengthy custodial sentence’ was the most likely outcome and remanded him in custody.

In 2014 Cross had been held up as an example to other drug addicted criminals when Judge Jamie Tabor QC praised him for beating his own addiction and becoming a helper and mentor to students and school children.

At that time Cross gave a talk to visiting children at Gloucester Crown Court and was publicly praised by the judge for the way he had turned his life around.

The county High Sheriff was visiting court on that day and posed afterwards for pictures with Cross.

Cross had related his life story to the youngsters in court, warning that cannabis is often the cause of a life of crime.

“Before you know it, you want something stronger and you are onto cocaine. Then you want more and you go to crack cocaine,” Cross told the pupils.

“The trouble with crack is you feel down after it wears off. Something tells you the best way to get rid of that feeling is heroin.

“I would say to anyone who says that cannabis is a harmless drug that you can’t be hurt by: You are wrong.

“I don’t know anybody whose first drug was heroin. If you ask 99 percent of people what they started with they say cannabis.”

Sadly Cross later relapsed into drugs and crime.

In August 2016 he was jailed for three years and four months following convictions for three burglaries in March and April of that year after he began to use heroin once more.