A 28-year-old man will spend time at Westgate after he admitted to four counts of fraud involving a cheque he stole from his foster mother so he could pay a drug debt.

Jameko Blakeney, an admitted cocaine addict, stole two checks from foster mother Martha A. Dismont's checkbook on March 3, 2008 and attempted to cash the $300 check at the Bank of Butterfield.

Prosecutor Robert Welling told the court that Ms Dismont subsequently noticed the unauthorised transaction while checking her account on the internet.

A time later, when Blakeney attempted to cash the cheque, a suspicious bank teller contacted Ms Dismont. She then attended the bank but Blakeney had already left.

The court also heard that Blakeney had previous convictions and recently worked as a taxi dispatcher. Before Acting Magistrate Ed Bailey handed down the sentence, Blakeney, represented by duty counsel Peter Farge, stated: "I'm sorry, I did take it.

"I took it to pay back a drug debt... I'm willing to pay back the money. I'm really not a bad person.

"Sometimes I go through these little things. I had to pay back a drug debt and it was one of those life or death matters... it was a cocaine debt."

Blakeney's most recent conviction was in 2006 for which he received a 12-month sentence.

Mr. Bailey sentenced him to nine months at Westgate on count one, six months for counts two and three to run concurrently and nine months consecutively on the fourth count.

"I'm giving you a chance to straighten your life out. I considered giving you three years in prison," said Mr. Bailey, who acknowledged that Blakeney needed treatment for his addiction while in prison.