DAMAGE estimated at £10,000 was discovered when police arrested a suspected burglar and searched his rented home.

Mark Duffie had left the property in Stockton an uninhabitable shell by pulling up floorboards and taking down ceilings.

Duffie had taken every radiator off the walls and stacked them up, and dismantled every bit of the suite in the bathroom.

Every handle had been taken off the interior doors, the boiler had been ripped out, and piping and cables had been stripped.

The scene of devastation was described when Duffie appeared in court on charges of burglary, theft and criminal damage.

On September 7, the 27-year-old was arrested near the scene of a shed break-in with a haul of DVDs, golf clubs and a bike.

Police searched his home in Rothwell Crescent and found it in “a state of total disrepair”, said Rebecca Brown, prosecuting.

Stunned landlords Tristar viewed the property and described it as “completely wrecked and uninhabitable” said Miss Brown.

Duffie also confessed to breaking into the offices of his landlords the previous day, as he looked for computers to steal.

His lawyer, Andrew Turton, said the two-day crime spree was sparked by a series of personal problems for Duffie.

He had split up with his girlfriend and was having difficulties getting contact with their child, Mr Turton told the court.

“He simply lost the plot at an emotional time,” said Mr Turton. “He was in a difficult situation which got the better of him.”

The court heard that Duffie was affected by prescription drugs – which were not his – which he took to try to help him sleep.

He had been out of trouble for the previous five years, said Mr Turton, and had successfully battled a heroin problem.

Weeks before the offences last month, magistrates gave him a community order for stealing and pawning his girlfriend's laptop.

Unemployed Duffie was jailed for a total of 12 months after judge Howard Crowson told him: “I will keep it as low as I can.”

The judge heard that he has had problems in prison on remand, but has refused a place on a protected wing despite being bullied.

“I'm afraid I'm going to have to imprison you,” he said. “It is a combination of offences that have caused harm for a number of people.”