Man spared jail for drugs charges after court hears he developed heroin addiction while wrongly jailed for 19 years for murder Vincent Hickey, 58, has been spared jail time after pleading guilty to drugs charges Hickey was one of four men wrongly convicted for the murder of Carl Bridgewater, 13, in 1979 The judge instead apologised for the time that Hickey had already spent behind bars Vincent Hickey was left with a Heroin addiction after leaving jail in 1997 A man who served 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit has been spared jail on drugs charges after a court heard how he developed a heroin addiction while behind bars. Worcester Crown Court was told that Vincent Hickey has spent around £150,000 servicing his addiction to drugs since his conviction for the murder of paper boy Carl Bridgewater in 1979. Hickey, 58, pleaded guilty in January this year to possessing amphetamine with intent to supply after drugs with a potential street value of £2,100 were found his freezer. He had previously admitted six other drugs charges after being found in possession of small quantities of illegal substances, including heroin, in August and October of 2011. But Judge Richard Rundell opted not to jail Mr Hickey, who was imprisoned for life in 1979 alongside three co-defendants after being found guilty of killing 13-year-old Carl near Stourbridge, West Midlands. Imposing a two-year community order, Judge Rundell told Hickey: 'Yours is an unusual, perhaps unique, case. You have got a long-standing addiction to heroin. We all know where you have got that, and you shouldn't have been there at the time. I am sorry that it happened. Hickey was wrongly convicted of the murder of newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater, 13, who was shot dead in 1978 at Yew Tree Farm, Wordsley, West Midlands. He, his cousin Michael Hickey and Jimmy Robinson were jailed for life and a fourth man, Patrick Molloy, was jailed for manslaughter. Hickey (front second from right) in 1997 when his conviction was quashed. Hickey celebrates with his mother Anne Skett, cousin Michael and aunt Ann Whelan after his release The quartet became known as the Bridgewater Four and after a long campaign their convictions were quashed in 1997. Under the terms of the community order, Hickey will be required to undertake a two-year drug rehabilitation programme and be supervised by probation officers for two years. Warning Hickey that the sentence was not a 'get out of jail free card', the judge added: 'If you fail to comply with the order you will be brought back and might be sentenced to prison - nobody wants to see that.' Before the sentence was handed down, defence counsel Sam Blom-Cooper submitted that Hickey's past provided unique and compelling mitigation. Hickey (right) with his cousin Michael who was also wrongly convicted in 1979 The lawyer also stressed that Hickey, who lives in north Worcestershire, had pleaded guilty to possessing the amphetamine on the basis that he was merely acting as a "custodian" for a short time. Explaining that Hickey was now living in council accommodation and caring for his mother, Mr Blom-Cooper told the court: 'Quite clearly from both (psychiatric and pre-sentence) reports, he is a man of very limited means, although he did receive a substantial payment as compensation for the 19 years he served for an offence he did not commit.' Hickey was awarded £506,220, subject to 25 per cent deductions to pay for their living expenses while in jail. Hickey, who is in now receipt of disability living allowance, was not ordered to pay anything towards prosecution costs of £1,200.