A burglar was warned by magistrates that he could be sent to jail after they found him guilty of stealing money from a Darlington funeral parlour.

David Jonathan Errington, of Bardon Moor, Darlington, was convicted of breaking into the offices of John Meynell Funeral Services, in North Road, and stealing £500.

Magistrates, sitting at Bishop Auckland, heard that Errington's fingerprints were found at the scene on business cards believed to have been used to open the lock to a secure office.

Funeral director Keith Munt said the company had been short-staffed on the day of the burglary last October so the building had been unattended for about an hour.

The door from the street to a reception area at the front of the building had been left open, but a door leading to the rest of the premises was locked while Mr Munt acted as pall bearer at a funeral in Newton Aycliffe.

When he returned, he found both doors ajar and several business cards near the internal door and a folded card on a desk inside the premises.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, said Errington had used the cards to force open a lock on the door and searched inside where he found £500 that had been paid towards a funeral service bill earlier that day.

During police interview the 22-year-old admitted being in the building to get something for someone, but he could not recollect what or who.

In court yesterday he said he picked up the business cards to give to his mother following the recent death of his grandmother.

He said he did not tell police fearing they would alarm his mother by visiting her.

He denied searching the private part of the building but recalled seeing two chapels of rest, the doors to which are kept closed.

Peter Kilgour, for Errington, said that fingerprints found on a handrail leading to the upstairs office and footprints found inside had not been matched to Errington.

Magistrates found Errington guilty. After hearing that he had an extensive criminal record and had been released from prison only two months before the burglary, they ordered that reports be steered towards a custodial sentence.

The case was adjourned for sentencing until July 16 at Newton Aycliffe.