It was not too difficult for police to track down burglar Andrew Woodward one winter night, a court heard yesterday.

Police followed his footprints in the snow from his home to the raided house and back, said David Scott, prosecuting, at Teesside Crown Court.

Woodward admitted attempted burglary at the house in Hartlepool when the woman occupant was woken by the sound of breaking glass.

Mr Scott said: "The footprints also led into another garden where a window had been forced and they matched Woodward's shoes."

Woodward, of Dunoon Road, Hartlepool, admitted two burglaries, three attempted burglaries and going equipped to commit an offence with a crowbar, all in the space of five days in March.

Jamie Hill, defending, said Woodward committed the crimes when he was in the grip of heroin addiction, which he had beaten while in custody.

He was jailed for three years.