A BURGLAR was jailed yesterday after breaking into a couple's home as they slept upstairs.

Michael Martin left a footprint on the window sill of the house in Carlton Moor Crescent, Darlington, in April last year. The footprint was matched to Martin's trainers.

Martin, 30, of Holgate Moor Green, Darlington, had denied the charge of burglary, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court convicted him.

Martin admitted three other burglaries, one at a shop in Leeming, another at the Leeming Bar Hotel and the third at a newsagent's shop in Brough, near Penrith.

Yesterday the judge, Assistant Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe, jailed Martin for three and a half years. He told Martin the fact that he comitted three other offences convinced him that custody was the only sentence available to the court.

David Lamb, prosecuting, said property worth just under £1,500 was taken from the house in Carlton Moor Crescent. Martin had denied being the burglar and claimed someone had borrowed his shoes.

James Robinson, for Martin, said there was a danger of institutionalisation in Martin's case. He has been married for 12 years and has three children.