A BUNGLING burglar who left his calling card when he smashed his way into one of the region's oldest theatres was jailed for 31 months yesterday.

Heroin addict Randall Whitelaw dropped through a skylight at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, North Yorkshire, and forced open tills before snatching £200 from an office, said Peter Sabiston, prosecuting.

But Whitelaw, 29, who caused a considerable amount of damage, left behind a letter sent to him from the probation service.

At the time, he was on bail for a burglary at the YMCA in Darlington, where he stole computers worth £6,700.

A staff member discovered the Darlington raid and was sitting outside waiting for contractors to secure the building when Whitelaw returned and stole more property, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Whitelaw, of Welbeck Avenue, Darlington, admitted the two April burglaries, an unrelated offence of aggravated vehicle taking and driving while disqualified on March 5, and two offences of failing to surrender.

Simon Reevell, defending, said Whitelaw was showing growing maturity and he was keen to offer support to his recently-widowed mother.

Judge Michael Taylor told him: "You have been particularly active late at night recently.

"This was a persistent spree of offences and you showed no signs of packing in until you were locked up."