POLICE found a prolific young burglar hiding in a loft after a neighbour heard suspicious noises coming from the vacant terraced house.

A resident reported hearing movement and a sawing noise from the empty next door property in Davy Street, Ferryhill, County Durham, late on Sunday March 1.

Durham Crown Court was told police with sniffer dogs arrived a short time later and discovered entry appeared to have been gained following removal of a rear kitchen window.

Ian West, prosecuting, said beading and the glass pain were taken out to allow entry.

Although no-one was initially found in the building, the intruder, Michael Kieran Gough, was eventually located in the loft.

Mr West said Gough eventually “presented himself” to the officers and a search at the scene led to the recovery of a hacksaw, while pipes to a boiler were found to have been cut.

He was arrested and, when interviewed, told officers that he entered the house as a trespasser, but he denied any intent to commit a burglary, as he claimed he only went in to evade capture by police.

But, appearing via video link to the court, from Holme House Prison, at Stockton, 22-year-old Gough, of Windsor Avenue, Ferryhill, admitted a charge of burglary with intent to steal.

Mr West said it would be the ninth sentencing exercise conducted in the area’s courts for offences of burglary committed by Gough, the first carried out when he was just 12-years-old, in 2005.

The court heard that the defendant was only released from a previous 29-month sentence for burglary in late October last year.

A victim impact statement, made by property-owning landlord Alexander Turnbull, was read to the court.

He stated that he had “no idea” how much it would cost him to carry out necessary repairs to make the house habitable for the next tenant.

But he added that he would lose potential revenue as a result of Gough’s activities.

Penny Bottomley, mitigating, agreed that Gough was subject to the minimum three-year sentencing requirements for three-strike burglars, less some discount for his prompt guilty plea.

Judge Christopher Prince told Gough: “You have a bad record for offences of burglary and, in this case, you were hacking at piping in a house which was unoccupied at the time."

He imposed the minimum three-year sentence, deducting about seven months for Gough’s early guilty plea.