A BURGLAR who began using heroin aged just 13 has been jailed for four months by a judge who said he had a dreadful criminal record.

Alan Bates, who has 123 offences to his name and 16 previous convictions for burglary or attempted burglary, was reported by a member of the public as acting suspiciously outside an empty property in Jesmond Gardens, Hartlepool.

Police arrested him at the scene and discovered a glass panel had been broken at the house, prosecutor Rachel Masters told Teesside Crown Court.

Bates had gained access to the unoccupied property, although nothing was stolen. He admitted attempted burglary on October 23 last year.

His barrister Joseph Spencer said he had not led a stable life and having been in care as a child was introduced to heroin by older men at the age of 13. He had subsequently been addicted to the drug for 20 years.

Mr Spencer said 33-year-old Bates had spent just nine months out of the last 17 years as a free man.

He said: “He has been in and out of prison for most of his adult life. He is not proud of that and knows he needs to change.”

The defendant, of Fulthorpe Avenue, Hartlepool, was told by Recorder Toby Hedworth that he had a dreadful record and he had no alternative but to impose an immediate jail sentence.

He jailed him for four months, adding: “If you burgle again in the near future I am afraid it is going to mean a very long time inside for you. The choice is yours.”