A BURGLAR who raided a flat looking for scrap metal is starting an 18-month prison sentence.

Christopher Harrison claims he thought the property was empty because there was so little inside.

The 29-year-old says he left the Middlesbrough flat as soon as he realised it was actually occupied.

Harrison cut through water pipes to the copper boiler and caused a leak in the one-bed property.

When he looked for something to mop up the mess and found a tea-towel, he realised someone lived there.

His barrister, Paul Cleasby, said Harrison could be spared jail because he was not a typical burglar.

But Judge Peter Bowers said raiders who pull out piping and boilers for scrap cause devastation.

He said he could "see some force" in Mr Cleasby's argument, but said Harrison had been determined.

"You were quite prepared to rip out the pipes and cause whatever damage that would result in.

"Everyone who steals pipework or wiring from premises causes far more hurt and damage than the value of the goods they steal."

Mr Cleasby had said earlier: "Mr Harrison is not what one would call a dwelling house burglar.

"He is not someone who creeps into somebody's house to steal their treasured possessions.

"He clearly is a nuisance and would cause economic loss by going in to steal metalwork.

"This is a defendant who does not need to be placed immediately in a prison cell.

"He has demonstrated for significant periods in his hapless existence that he can remain offence-free."

Harrison, of Abberstone Walk, Middlesbrough, admitted burglary of the flat on October 9 last year.