A BURGLAR hid behind a sofa and smoked cigarettes while waiting for the householders to go upstairs to bed, a jury has been told.

Burnley Crown Court heard Conrad Lee Howarth’s alleged plan was only foiled when one of the residents, Matthew Hargreaves, told his mum he could smell smoke and asked her to check if the fire in the front sitting room was still on.

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Mr Hargreaves was on his way to bed at the time.

Prosecutor Roger Baldwin said when Joan Hargreaves went into the front room of the house in Mitella Street, Burnley, she saw Howarth’s head sticking out from behind the sofa.

Mr Baldwin said: “Mrs Hargreaves noticed the sofa, which was usually pushed up against the wall, was away from the wall. She peered over the sofa and saw the back of the defendant’s head.

“She said ‘what are you doing here?’ and took a couple of steps back. She told him to leave. He said ‘I have nowhere to go’.

“She said ‘you can’t stay here mate’ and shouted for Matthew.”

Mr Baldwin told the jury that Mr Hargreaves spoke to Howarth but during the conversation the defendant made a failed attempt to climb out of the window to escape.

Howarth, 36, of Pinfold Place, Nelson, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken to Burnley police station, the court heard.

The court was told during interview Howarth told police he had been staying at a friend’s house in nearby Pine Street and had been locked out.

He said he had seen the door to the Hargreaves’ house open and had gone into the sitting room “for a lie down”. He said he had never meant to cause any alarm to the victims and had not been intending to steal anything. Mr Baldwin said the day after the alleged incident on August 2, 2015, Mrs Hargreaves found two cigarette butts behind the sofa and a pill.

The court heard she also noticed wires to the television were loose, as if somebody had attempted to pull them out.

Mr Baldwin said: “This defendant sneaked into this house at some point while the door was open.

“He hid himself behind the sofa. He didn’t lie on the sofa for a nice sleep. He was waiting for people to go to bed, When they had gone to sleep he was going to steal from the house.”

Howarth denies a charge of entering a building with intent to steal.

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