A MAN sent to the probation service to get help with his drink problem kicked it himself - by living in a mud hut in Africa for two years, a court was told.

Geoffrey Douglas, 43, went to visit his aunt in the Gambia when he should have been attending appointments as part of a community order imposed after he admitted assaulting his girlfriend.

When his cash ran out, he found himself in a poverty-stricken village, and was taken in and adopted' by a local family.

And for the next 24 months he made fences while living in the tin-roofed hut, Burnley magistrates heard.

Douglas could not drink as he had no money, and the locals were Muslim so he had no choice but to stay dry.

The defendant was arrested when he flew back home last week for an urgent medical appointment.

The probation service had not heard from him since January 2006.

He had originally been sentenced to the community order for assaulting Eileen Jones, his ex-girlfriend of 10 years, in the Shepherd's Arms, in Colne.

Douglas, of Glen Street, Colne, admitted breaching the 18-month supervision order, which had included the Addressing Substance-Relat-ed Offending Programme, and which was imposed after he was convicted of common assault and resisting police.

The bench resentenced for the order, which has now finished and gave him a six- month conditional discharge.

The court had been told how Douglas struck Eileen Jones in the eye and threatened to kill her.

He then refused to go with the police when told he was being arrested, said he was going nowhere, struggled and trapped an officer against railings as police tried to handcuff him.

He was eventually hand-cuffed and restrained.

Nick Dearing, defending, said what had happened to Douglas since the order was imposed was a "rather intriguing tale".

At the time he had a long-standing drink problem.

The defendant had gone to the Gambia for a couple of months, having a "high old time".

And then when the cash ran out, he went and lived in a village in the countryside.

A family took pity on him, he became part of that family and they fed him and looked after him.

Douglas had found the experience enlightening and humbling.

Mr Dearing said since the defendant's return he had spent two nights in custody.

The solicitor added: "He has realised there are people far worse off than himself.

"He has put alcoholism behind him.

"The person before the court is a very changed man.

"It's very easy if you have no money, and no access to alcohol, you can't drink."