A DRUG addict who broke into his aunt's home and stole a television was yesterday jailed after a judge branded it "a very mean" offence.

Glen Fielden returned to the scene of the break-in while forensic teams were looking for clues and claimed he found the set in a nearby shed.

The 22-year-old later admitted carrying out the burglary at his aunt's home in Scalby Square, Thornaby, near Stockton, and was locked up for two years.

His barrister, Duncan McReddie, told Teesside Crown Court yesterday that Fielden was in the grip of addictions to alcohol and drugs at the time.

The court heard that fingerprint and footwear marks matching Fielden's were found at the scene after the burglary on April 15.

Fielden, also of Scalby Square, was the family's first suspect because of his past difficulties and his problems with drugs, the court was told.

Judge George Moorhouse told him: "This was a very mean burglary because you stole a television from your aunt."

The court heard that Fielden has two previous convictions for burglary - at derelict properties, looking for scrap - in 2008 and earlier this year.