A senior Bradford judge has spoken of his frustration over the consistent failure of court orders aimed at weaning addicts off Drugs.

His comments came as figures revealed that about 95 per cent of criminals sentenced to Drugs Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) dropped out within a year.

Judge Roger Scott made his remarks as he branded one burglar's DTTO a "disaster".

When Judge Scott sentenced Leigh Fagan to the 12-month order in January he praised his artistic ability after studying a number of his drawings in the courtroom.

He told him: "You've got talent. So why not use it instead of using drugs?"

But yesterday the 26-year-old, of Hainsworth Road, Silsden, returned to be re-sentenced after twice breaching the order.

Sentencing him to ten months in jail, Judge Scott spoke of his disappointment that the order had failed.

"I thought it was a good case," he said.

"I thought there might be a chance that for once I might pass a sentence of DTTO that might succeed."

A study of 179 criminals sentenced to DTTOs in West Yorkshire showed half had stopped attending by the 14th week and by six months only 27 per cent were continuing the programme.

By the end of the 12-month orders, about 95 per cent had been breached.

But the probation service, which runs the scheme, said DTTOs were successful in cutting offending.

Mark Siddall, Chief Officer for Bradford Probation, said: "Research carried out jointly by police and probation in Bradford on offenders placed on DTTOs shows that there is a significant fall in the number of times they are arrested after the order is made.

"Countywide research shows that at the six month stage, drug use, spend, dependency, and criminal behaviour are greatly reduced. This suggests that even a short time on the DTTO can bring about improvements."

He said that among those criminals who continued six months into the order, the average weekly amount they spent on drugs fell from £200 to £25 and the amount of crime they committed fell by 70 per cent.

Mr Siddall added: "However, someone placed on a DTTO for a year, who complies for nine or ten months of that time, reduces drug use and stops offending is by no means a failure. The benefits are obvious for the community, for the individual his or her family and for society."