A DRUG user who burgled and ransacked a house after breaking in through the bedroom ceiling has appeared in court.

Stuart Elve stole almost £4,000 worth of jewellery and electrical items after entering the loft to smash through the ceiling of a bedroom on Ribble Drive in Darlington.

He then tried to deflect suspicion by claiming the house next door had also been burgled, Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard today (Tuesday, May 7).

Prosecutor Rachael Dodsworth said the victim received a phone call from her son at 3.50pm telling her the house had been burgled.

She rushed home from work to find the house had been ransacked and the contents of the loft had fallen through on to her bed.

Ms Dodsworth said: “The neighbours and the defendant were stood outside the front of the house.

“The victim went straight inside and saw that her flat-screen television had been stolen and there was glass all over the floor from a smashed window next to the kitchen door.

“The ceiling in her bedroom was fallen through and the contents of the loft were on her bed.

“She went outside and said she had been burgled and the defendant’s partner said her laptop had also been stolen from the house next door.

“The victim went to go back inside but Elve asked if she wanted him to go in to check everything was ok; she said no.”

Elve, 36, of Stocksmoor Close, Darlington, pleaded guilty to burglary dwelling and theft, plus two counts of possessing Class B drugs after amphetamine and cannabis were found on him by officers who arrested him on April 24 - two days after the burglary.

Liam Brison, mitigating, said he accepted there had been ransacking and that Elve had entered through the bedroom ceiling, but he added that around £1,500 worth of the stolen goods had been recovered.

Mr Brison said Elve’s drug use was the background to the offence and he accepted magistrates would be likely to send the case to the crown court.

Magistrates agreed that the offence was too serious for them to deal with and sent Elve for sentencing at Teesside Crown Court on a date to be fixed.

His bail conditions mean that he must not leave his home between the hours of 7pm and 7am, nor enter Skerne Park, Darlington, until his crown court appearance.