A MAN was caught sneaking around a family's home in the early hours of the morning, a court heard yesterday.

Barry Walker, 26, drunkenly thought he was in a friend's house when he entered the home of Heather Fielding and her 16-year-old daughter in Cheltenham Drive, Boldon, South Tyneside, on August 6.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the teenager, who had a 17-year-old friend sleeping over, confronted Walker when she was awoken by him creeping around the house at 2am using a cigarette lighter to find his way.

Walker simply asked where his friend was when asked to explain who he was and why he was in the house.

Walker made off from the house and took the teenagers' handbags with him, but they were later found abandoned at the back of the house.

Walker, of North Road, Boldon Colliery, admitted two charges of theft in relation to the handbags.

Judge David Hodson sentenced him to a drug treatment and testing order for 12 months.