A SERIAL burglar branded "a thorough nuisance" to society could escape jail by being sent on a drugs rehabilitation course.

Scott MacDonald, aged 30, of Coltness Crescent, Abbey Wood, appeared at the Old Bailey last week.

This was in connection with smashing a window at the Co-op Funeralcare funeral parlour in Bexley Road, Erith, on March 27 last year and trying to get into the building.

MacDonald pleaded guilty to attempted burglary before he was due to stand trial, after DNA from a blood sample found on broken glass at the funeral parlour was matched to him.

A second charge of attempted burglary at the Munchies Cafe, in the same row of Bexley Road shops, was ordered to lie on the court file.

The court heard MacDonald was a drug addict with 25 previous convictions.

He was due to be sentenced last Thursday but instead Judge Paul Worsley adjourned the case so MacDonald can be assessed for his suitability for a drugs rehabilitation course.

The judge told him: "You are a thorough nuisance because you keep committing offences which cause an awful lot of trouble for people.

"Everything else has been tried, other than a long sentence. I don't think the time has yet come for that."

The judge said if he received a positive report he would make a community order with a requirement MacDonald attend the course.

If not, MacDonald was warned he faces 18 months in prison.

MacDonald was granted bail.