MAGISTRATES in Swindon have apologised to a man who was turned away from a court drug assessment after postcode bureaucrats ruled that drugs workers could not see him.

Jordan Whyte, of Station Road in Purton, pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage charges when he appeared at Chippenham Magistrates’ Court last week.

The 27-year-old’s case was adjourned so that the probation service could prepare a report on him, particularly relating to issues around drug use.

The court instructed him to turn up for an assessment in Swindon on Monday morning which he dutifully did – only to be told that the drugs team there would not see him.

Michelle Hewitt, of the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court that at his first appearance last week, Whyte had been told to come to Swindon specifically because there was a specialist in ketamine addiction and that is the expert knowledge he was in need of.

Terry McCarthy, defending, explained that despite following those instructions to the letter, his client had been told he had made a wasted journey.

Now, because of the misleading instruction, his client would have to make his way back to Chippenham twice in three days – once on Tuesday for his drug assessment and again, on Thursday, to finally be sentenced.

Chairman of the bench, Mr Paul New, summoned a probation officer to court in an attempt to draw out an explanation for the confusion.

“Unfortunately, this is an error due to postcodes,” the officer told the court.

“Mr Whyte lives in Purton which appears to be a Swindon postcode but actually comes under Wiltshire county – that means that the NHS funding, and therefore the drug rehabilitation provider is different.

“That means that the Swindon provider that is here today can’t assess Mr Whyte, because he lives in a Wiltshire postcode.”

Seemingly struggling to believe what he was hearing, bench chairman Mr New said: “So we have an expert here, today, but he is not funded to see this man?

“That is atrocious – we are not happy with that.”

Turning to the dock where Whyte was stood, Mr New told him: “On behalf of the bench, and justice, we apologise.

“This is not your fault at all, you came here as directed and you were perfectly right to do so.

“But as you have heard, our hands are tied.”

Probation staff based at Swindon Magistrates’ Court apologised for the saga and told the court that the matter had been escalated to management level.

As some consolation, they offered Mr Whyte a travel warrant to assist with his journey back to Chippenham when he returns to face sentence on Thursday.