A HOUSEHOLDER who plotted to steal almost £9,500 after making a false burglary report at his home has been locked up for six months.

Brian Allison reported that his home, in Stockton, had been broken into while he was away on holiday last summer.

He claimed somebody had scaled a fence, broken through a kitchen window and stole a laptop computer, three credit cards and two DVD players.

But investigating officers became suspicious about the scene of the alleged burglary and delved deeper into the case.

It emerged that sums of £250 to £300 - a total of £9,450 - were withdrawn from various cashpoint machines using the bank cards.

Officers also found a floor safe in Allison's home containing £12,950 in cash and a laptop of the same make he claimed had been stolen.

The 60-year-old insisted the money was years of savings of benefits and denied using a drill found in his shed to break into his kitchen.

And he claimed a fingerprint from Dale Fox - the son of Allison's partner - which was found on the money, was there because he helped him count it.

In a police interview, however, Fox, then 17, admitted taking the cash, and told officers the plan was hatched by Allison.

He said Allison gave him the credit cards and PIN number before going on hoiliday to Pontins, in Southport, and told him to withdraw the money.

But under pressure from Allison, Fox later confessed to carrying out a genuine burglary which his mother's lover knew nothing about.

The two men, both of Kingsport Close, were convicted of conspiracy to steal after a trial at Teesside Crown Court in August.

Fox, who is now 18, had admitted the theft of £9,450 between July 28 and August 14 last year.

He was yesterday given a community order with two years of Probation Service supervision and ordered to attend a substance misuse course.

Judge Tony Briggs told Allison: "It is perfectly plain you are a devious, dishonest, manipulative man with quite a powerful personality.

"You put upon a vulnerable 17-year-old to withdraw money with your bank cards . . . you consistently denied any involvment in the face of strong evidence.

"There is clear evidence that you helped draft Dale Fox's withdrawal statement of his original account that he did it in combination with you."

Adrian Dent, mitigating, said Allison being locked up would have "catastrophic" consequences for his young children.

Judge Briggs told him: "If they suffer, that's a matter of the very greatest regret to the court, but you should be able to explain to them that it is entirely your own fault and all the difficulties they might encounter are of your own making."

Dan Cordey, for Fox, described his client as "an immature, gullible young man" who would do anything under pressure to please others.