A CAREER crook who sneaked into a Nelson flat while the tenant's boyfriend was asleep inside, has been locked up for 29 months.

Drug addict Robert Norris, 32, was a 'third strike' burglar for the second time, facing a statutory minimum three year jail term, minus 'credit' for a guilty plea. He has 108 offences on his record, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The hearing was told Norris was challenged by a neighbour as he came out of the flat and turned out his pockets.

The defendant made the news earlier this year when a judge sentencing him praised a crew of Colne binmen who had spotted him with a haul of stolen loot in a back alley and blocked his escape.

Norris was said to have threatened one of them with a knife. The defendant, of Brentwood Road, Nelson, had been given a community order for handling stolen goods, but later ended up back behind bars after flouting the order.

He admitted burglary with intent to steal at Market Square, Nelson, on November 27.