A JUDGE’S plan to order a defendant to attend addiction service Inspire for breaching a suspended sentence order was scuppered when the man said it would be of no benefit to him.

Robert Charles Cochrane appeared before Judge Richard Gioserano at Burnley Crown Court and admitted to breaching the order by failing to attend office appointments with his probation officer on January 9 and February 3.

The court heard how Cochrane, 38, of Craven Street, Accrington, had been given a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, after being convicted of breaching a restraining order on three separate occasions.

As part of the order, Cochrane was ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation days and a nine-month alcohol treatment programme.

When Judge Gioserano proposed marking the breach with an alcohol treatment programme, which would have required the defendant to attend the alcohol and drug treatment service Inspire, Cochrane began shaking his head.

When asked why he objected to the proposal so strongly, Cochrane said: “Inspire has never worked for me. It’s a mixture of drug takers and alcoholics. I don’t think that works for me.

“I did Alcoholics Anonymous when I was in prison and I didn’t drink for a year. Inspire doesn’t work for me.”

Cochrane, who was unrepresented in court, said he was going through a lot around the time he missed the appointments. That included protecting a family member who was being harassed by her ex-boyfriend, although he accepted it was still his responsibility to turn up when required.

Cochrane, 38, of Craven Street, Accrington, admitted breaching a suspended sentence order by failing to turned up to planned appointments with his probation officer on January 9 and February 3.

Adding five rehabilitation activity requirement days to the order to mark the breaches, Judge Richard Gioserano said: “Whilst I’m not agreeing with what you say about Inspire, there is maybe something in your particular case that makes a rehabilitation activity requirement more achievable. You are left then to refer yourself somewhere for alcohol treatment.

“I am going to see if you can put your money where your mouth is."