A mother has defended her heroin addict son, who looted her house to pay off a dealer.

Rupert Upton, 26, stole luxury furniture and jewellery worth £10,000 from his parents, Nicolas and Nicolette Upton, while they were in France.

Then he tricked them into handing over ransom money by pretending he had been kidnapped.

Yesterday, his mother said her son was the victim of an addiction epidemic sweeping the UK. She and her husband had begged the police not to prosecute.

Mrs Upton said: "It's the same for a lot of people in this country today.

"It's an epidemic. We never wanted our son to go to court. The police were very helpful but I understand the Crown Prosecution Service went ahead with the case despite the police not wanting to. We never even spoke to the CPS."

Mrs Upton said she was delighted her son had not been sent to prison.

Lewes Crown Court heard he raided his parents' home in Ditchling, near Lewes, while they were on holiday last September.

He aimed to sell the goods, which included dining chairs, a diamond ring and an antique table, to settle a drug debt.

Upton then told his parents he had been kidnapped by gipsies who wanted £300 for his release.

Police arrested Upton when his father dropped off an envelope containing £250 and he emerged from undergrowth to retrieve it.

Upton, who admitted charges of theft and blackmail between September 2 and 14 last year, was sentenced to 80 hours' community service.

Judge Richard Brown told him a charge of blackmail usually resulted in a custodial sentence.

However, he noted Upton had tried to establish a drug-free lifestyle and his parents were not prepared to support the allegations.