A WEST Cumbrian man given a community order for drink driving, dangerous driving and having heroin found himself back in trouble after missing two Probation Service telephone appointments.

Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court that 38-year-old Robert Ryan had been excused for an earlier breach of his order because he had suffered a bereavement.

But Probation Service officials took Ryan to court after he then ignored planned telephone appointments on October 16 last year and January 14 this year.

A familiar figure to the courts, Ryan had 21 offences on his record.

Sean Harkin, for Ryan, of Ennerdale Road, Cleator Moor, said he had done half of his unpaid work and he simply “missed a few phone calls.”

Judge Simon Medland QC told Ryan such contacts were meant to keep him on the “straight and narrow”.

“They’re not just phone calls; they’re part of the process,” said the judge.

Ordering that the defendant’s curfew will continue until April 1, the judge told Ryan: “You are master of your own destiny, responsible for your place in the world and the consequences of your actions.”