A BURGLAR went on a late-night stealing spree despite being on an electronic-tag curfew that was meant to prevent him leaving his home between 8pm and 8am.

Lee O'Donnell was under the night-time house arrest as part of a community order imposed last August for offences of criminal damage and using threatening behaviour.

But a court heard yesterday that the 33-year-old breached the curfew order three times - including once in December, when he and a friend raided a house in Middlesbrough.

O'Donnell and his accomplice were caught filling a plastic bin bag with valuables when householder Derrick Loughran returned home at 10.20pm, five days before Christmas.

The two raiders pushed Mr Loughran out of the way and fled from his home in Ryehill Walk, Ormesby, with a camcorder and several watches, worth a total of £1,200.

Mr Loughran, 47, later told police that he was disgusted and angry that the men had been in his house, and was afraid they might return to take what they had to leave behind.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the raiders had also taken a television off a bedroom wall, and had emptied wardrobes and laid items out on a bed ready to put in their bag.

But Mr Loughran returned to his home after being out for less than an hour-and-a-half and confronted the burglars after hearing footsteps and voices upstairs.

Dan Cordey, mitigating, said O'Donnell - who was said to have been the leader in the break-in - and his accomplice were never violent towards Mr Loughran.

"They simply pushed past him and got out of the house as quickly as possible," said Mr Cordey. "Although they were disturbed, there was no violence meted out."

The court heard that O'Donnell had convictions for burglary in 1993 and 2005, as well as handling stolen goods and aggravated vehicle-taking.

O'Donnell, of Ellerbeck Way, Spencerbeck, Middlesbrough, admitted the burglary and was jailed for two years yesterday by Judge Les Spittle.

In a pre-sentence report by probation officials, O'Donnell said he did not know what he was doing at the house because he was under the influence of heroin.

But Judge Spittle said: "They were laying out the stuff that was to be taken. It had been chosen, they were discussing what it was and they had a plastic bin liner - they knew exactly what they were doing.

"At the time of the commission of this offence, you were subject to a community order and despite you being electronically-tagged in order that the curfew could be monitored, you nevertheless managed to get into somebody's house at night and burgle it.