A DOZING guest woke to find an intruder snooping around the house he was staying in, a court heard yesterday.

Paul Preston claims he was looking for his mother who sometimes stayed at the property in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

His solicitor James Fenney told Teesside Crown Court that she was the partner of the man who rented the house.

When Preston, 21, woke up at home at 2am and his mother was not there, he went to find her, Mr Fenney said.

He told Judge Peter Armstrong that Preston was "familiar with the house" and had been there many times.

The intruder was wearing a balaclava but it had its full face cut out and the guest recognised him immediately.

Preston was using his mobile phone as a makeshift torch and picked up his wallet before fleeing empty-handed.

Mr Fenney said: "Clearly, on this occasion he was foolish to enter the property at that time at night.

"There were other ways he could have tried to contact his mother. He put back the money he took from the wallet."

Preston, of Hambleton Place, Thirsk, was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence after he admitted burglary.

Judge Armstrong also ordered him to be electronically tagged for a three-month curfew from 9pm to 7am.

He said there were unusual features to the case, and added: "Normally, such a burglar would go to prison straight away."

The court heard that Preston has diabetes, which needs daily medication, and has stopped smoking cannabis since the sneak-in crime last December.