A PROLIFIC burglar was found in the back yard of a Burnley home at night, armed with a thieving kit, a court heard.

Lee Watts, 41, had a hammer, screwdriver, scissors, pipe cutter, torches and other small tools in a rucksack when police saw him at 5.20am. He then crouched in the corner of the yard, hiding.

He was arrested, questioned and denied any attempt to steal, but changed his account a number of times. The defendant, who has been in jail nine times, had a record for burglary going back to 1984.

Watts, of Brunel Street, Burnley, had admitted going equipped for theft on May 5, and had been committed for sentence by the town’s magistrates.

The defendant, who had been on remand, was spared more time behind bars, after a judge said the kit had been consistent with looking for scrap metal.

Recorder Raymond Herman told him: “If I was sure that you were about to burgle a house, I would be sending you directly to prison today.

"I think there is a possibility that you were, but I think it would be unfair for me, on this evidence, to draw that conclusion.”

Watts was given six months in jail, suspended for a two years, with a 12 month community order, supervision and a nine months drugs programme.