A REPEAT burglar was caught following his latest crime after asking to have a stolen phone unlocked at a computer shop, a court was told.

James Richard Ball broke into a family home in Stanley, County Durham, and took the phone, an ipad, a lap-top computer and a wallet, overnight on July 5 last year.

Durham Crown Court heard that the terrified teenage daughter of the household woke and saw a figure in her room in the early hours.

Paul Reid, prosecuting, said although it was not known how he gained access, Ball appeared to have made his exit via the downstairs lavatory, as a shoe print was found on a cistern.

Mr Reid said the following morning Ball went into a computer shop in Chester-le-Street and asked the assistant to unlock a phone.

He was told it may take a few minutes and was asked to come back in half-an-hour.

Ball said he would go to the next door pub for a pint while he was waiting.

Mr Reid said the assistant became wary when he realised the phone belonged to someone he knew, so he rang the police and reported his suspicions.

Police went to the pub next door pub and arrested Ball, who also had the stolen lap-top with him, in a bag.

Training shoes were seized from his home, to link the sole print to the impression left on the cistern of the burgled home.

Ball made no comment on his initial interview, but admitted a charge of burglary on the day the case was scheduled to go to trial.

Mr Reid said the “frustrated and angry” family living at the targeted home have since spent £1,000 on additional security to try to provide a sense of security.

The children of the family have all since become anxious and very wary of any noise in the home.

Ball, 28, of Foster’s Lodge, Annfield Plain, near Stanley, was said to have four offences of house burglary on his record, prior to the latest break-in, and was recalled to serve the outstanding part of a previous sentence as a result of his latest arrest.

Tony Davis, mitigating, said Ball was resigned to remaining in custody until July to complete the recall period alone, and is, “well aware” of the likely sentence for the latest offence would leave him behind bars for a lot longer.

Imposing a prison sentence of three years and seven months, Judge Christopher Prince told Ball his behaviour had, “a particularly adverse effect”, on the young people within the family.