A highly respected writer who has spent much of th

A highly respected writer who has spent much of the last 19 years behind bars was offered a final chance today (Friday) to straighten out his life.

Peter Wayne spent months on the streets of London to research articles on the underbelly of the Capital’s life.

The 44-year-old journalist is well known in the literary world for his gripping account of London’s drug culture.

But he became hooked on heroin and crack cocaine in prison five years ago, and when he was released Wayne spent months on the streets living the junkie lifestyle for ‘research’ on his article.

And his method writing – in the style of ‘gonzo’ author Hunter S.

Thompson – led him astray and he was arrested for shoplifting to help feed a drug habit.

The Judge, Mr Recorder David Spens, QC, told Wayne he would be remanded in custody while he is assessed for a rehabilitation course.

‘I have great misgivings about taking this course – if I do, it will be in hope rather than expectation.

‘

He commented on how the published article on drug culture actually appeared to ‘glorify the drugs scene’ and did not do the writer any favours.

But he said if he was found suitable for the scheme, by the trime of the next court hearing on March 21, he was prepared to defer sentence for eight weeks with a view to putting him on probation.

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard that Wayne had also ventured on a ‘grand tour of criminality’, staying at country house hotels and castles throughout Britain, and then fleeing without paying the bill.

The writer, who has been in and out of prison for 19 years, even stole valuable antiques worth almost pnds stlg 40,000 from an hotel in the Cotswolds.

He was again jailed, and released last year after vowing to clean up his act.

But architectural expert Wayne, who has written pieces for the Independent on Sunday, slipped back into drugs – and now faced jail again for stealing a coat and a collection of books from shops.

The court heard Wayne was arrested by police after being caught secreting nine books – worth more than pnds stlg 800 – into a bag at Stationary Office in Kingsway, central London last November.

He was released on bail, but failed to turn up at the police station.

Wayne was then re-arrested in December after pinching a pnds stlg 500 coat from Crombie Clothes Shop in nearby Jermyn Street.

Prosecutor Charles Vaudin said: ‘It seems he was observed on camera selecting and taking a coat.

He was detained, the police were called, and there was a minor struggle.

‘

The court heard how Wayne, who has previous convictions going back to 1975, took up writing in prison after reviewing a performance of Hamlet by inmates.

He quickly came to the notice of other critics, and began to write a weekly column – called The Prisoner – for highbrow current affairs mag Prospect.

When he was released in 1998, he was heavily addicted to drugs, and immersed himself in London’s drugs culture for a ‘Gonzo’-style feature.

The article in Prospect – headlined Wayne’s Underworld – was lauded in literary circles for its gripping realism.

But Wayne then went on his thieving tour of Britain, and was jailed for 27 months later that year.

He resumed his ‘Prisoner’ column in Prospect after being locked up, and was released in June last year.

But Wayne soon slipped back into drugs and went on his shoplifting spree.

He is currently working on two books – a novel and a longer version of his underworld article – for publishers Fourth Estate.

His solicitor Rod Novy said: ‘His literary success has allowed him, to some extent, to fund his drug habit.

‘Rather than coming out of prison as a recognised writer, he came out as a recognised writer with a serious drug problem.

‘He was also seduced by the world of criminality.

‘

But he faces another jail term because the latest offences were committed on licence and he breached his bail conditions.

Wayne, of Queens Road, Bounds Green, New Southgate, north London, admitted two charges of theft.

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