Jeremy Kyle guest jailed over community service failure Published duration 7 June 2012

image caption Lamb said he went on the programme to gain access to his daughter

A man who failed to carry out a community service order so he could appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show has been jailed.

Alister Lamb, 23, from Dundee, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in November last year as punishment for housebreaking.

However, by April this year, Lamb had only carried out one hour of the work, claiming he was busy filming.

He was jailed for six months at Dundee Sheriff Court.

During an earlier appearance at the court, Lamb had claimed he appeared on the programme in order to gain access to his daughter.

He was convicted, along with another man, of breaking into a flat in Dundee's Whitfield Avenue in February 2011.

They stole a television, an Xbox console, ornaments, a train set and a toilet seat.

'Simple way'

In a report submitted to Dundee Sheriff Court outlining the breach of his community service order, social workers said: "It would appear that Mr Lamb has not afforded his orders due priority, which is evidenced by his continued failures to attend.

"His most recent evidence to cover absences was an appearance on TV, namely the Jeremy Kyle Show.

"He reports that he now has access to his children, which he contributes to his recent appearance on the Jeremy Kyle Show."

At Thursday's court appearance, Lamb's defence agent, Theo Finlay, said his client had not had "stars in his eyes" by appearing on the programme.

Mr Finlay said: "He felt it was an appropriate way to deal with matters - in his simple way of looking at things, it was a measure of last resort to get contact with his child and he sees that as being successful."

However, in sentencing, Sheriff Tom Hughes told Lamb that he had been given the order as an alternative to jail - so the only option was prison.

He said: "What is particularly difficult in your case is that of the 200 hours imposed, you did only one - and that was when you reported to the social work department to have a programme set up for you.

"So you have done absolutely nothing on this order."

He added: "This was not a licence for you to ignore the order and go off on your own daft frolics like appearing on television shows rather than doing the work asked of you."

A spokeswoman for the Jeremy Kyle Show said the episode Lamb was involved in has not yet been aired.