A burglar who raided the home of a "devotee to high-quality, high-tech equipment" and took over £3,000 worth of property was spared jail yesterday.

Christopher Hope, 23, took a DVD player worth £600, 192 DVDs valued at £2,500 and a mini disc player worth £199 from a house in Derwentwater Terrace, South Shields, on September 8 last year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the homeowner's hobby had been to invest considerable sums in high tech equipment.

The DVD player which was taken was an original American import which was purchased when DVDs first hit the market.

Hope, of no fixed address, was linked to the raid by a fingerprint left on the inside of the kitchen window.

He initially claimed it must have been left there during the course of his previous employment as a window cleaner in the area but later admitted burglary.

Defence barrister Ailsa MacDonald said Hope, who has been in custody for over two months since his arrest, has a problem with alochol which he is willing to address.

Judge John Milford said he would have sentenced Hope, who has no previous convictions for burglary, to six months behind bars.

But due to the time Hope has already spent in custody it would have meant he was realeased almost immediately and without any supervision.

Judge Milford said: "That does not seem to me to be in the interests of either yourself or society."

The judge sentenced him to a community rehabilitation order for 12 months with the condition he seeks treatment for his alcohol addiction.