Man burgled home as woman slept

Stewart Newton had only been out of prison on licence for two months before he was caught last week after entering the semi-detached house in Stanks Lane, Leeds.

Sheila Aldridge, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday Newton broke a kitchen window to get inside where he stole a handbag, a purse, about 100, bank cards and the householder's keys.

But a neighbour who saw him in the area shortly after midnight had alerted police and they stopped him a 10-minute walk away from the house with the purse still on him.

Newton, 23, of Winrose Garth, Leeds, admitted the burglary on July 21, his fourth such conviction. Marlon Grossman representing him said the offence was to fund his drug taking and he should be given credit for his quick guilty plea.