A drug addict who began using when he was aged just seven has been given a chance to try and turn his life around.

Heroin addict Peter Cameron, 30, began abusing substances when he was still at primary school.

The details emerged when he appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court over an assault on his girlfriend at his home in Elderslie last May. 

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He had been placed on a Community Payback Order but was unable to comply with it properly because of his addiction issues and ended up breaching the Order.

Defence Solicitor Advocate Bob Kerr said: “The [social work background] report reveals he started taking drugs when he was seven years old - it’s astonishing. 

“He was beset by heroin - that accounts for his fecklessness.

“He tells me he wants to free himself from the criminal justice system.”

He asked for the case to be adjourned until next month so Cameron could be assessed for his suitability for a Drug Treatment and Testing Order, which seeks to help drug users get clean so they stop offending, adding: “He’s never had that chance before.”

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Sheriff David Pender called for the assessment and adjourned the case until next month for it to be done.