A SEX offender who was found hiding in his girlfriend’s wardrobe after failing to tell police of his change of address has been jailed.

Steven Lumley also admitted a string of burglaries, one of which involved the theft of £11,000 worth of mountain bikes, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The 24-year-old was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register following a seven-year prison sentence imposed after a conviction of attempted rape and indecent assault in 2002, when he was 15.

Durham Crown Court heard that Lumley had been been living in Epsom Court, on the Red Hall estate in Darlington, for five weeks without registering the address.

Sex offenders must inform police within three days when they move house.

Police found Lumley hiding in the wardrobe when they visited the property.

Catherine Fagin, prosecuting, told the court Lumley had been staying at an aunt’s house, but had to leave when her daughter and granddaughter moved in.

Lumley also pleaded guilty to four house burglaries, a garage burglary and an attempted burglary, all in Darlington, between October last year and March this year.

He asked for 25 house burglaries, three non-dwelling burglaries and an attempted burglary to be taken into consideration (TICs).

One on occasion, Lumley was disturbed by a young woman, who found him coming down her stairs.

In another, four mountain bikes worth £11,000 were stolen, the court heard.

Christopher Baker, mitigating, said although Lumley had failed to inform police of his change of address, there was no suggestion he had tried to flee the area.

“It is at the lower end of the scale, rather than someone who is found in a different town, perhaps one or two years later,” said Mr Baker.

He said the burglaries had mainly been committed during the daytime, and largely at properties which were unoccupied at the time.

He said Lumley had used his previous time in prison productively, gaining GCSEs, and was admitting the TICs to wipe the slate clean on his release.

“The purpose of the mitigation is really to address the length of the sentence that it not be so long a sentence that it competently crushes this man’s spirit,” added Mr Baker.

Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced Lumley to 30 months for each burglary, 20 months the attempted burglary and six months for failing to register his address as a sex offender, all to run concurrently.