A MAN who ransacked a house was cold and hungry and wanted to go back to jail, a court heard.

Burnley Crown Court was told how Wesley Andrew, 35, had only been let out of prison two days before, but fancied bed and board behind bars again as he had been living in a shed.

Andrew, who has almost 80 convictions on his record, had broken into the family home in Claughton Street, Burnley, through a smashed kitchen window and left it wrecked, flooded and uninhabitable.

The hearing was told the victim was left with a £2,500 bill as she did not have home insurance.

Andrew, from Burnley, had been on a suspended sentence at the time of the attack.

He admitted burglary between March 10 and 12, and theft, and, as a “three strike burglar,” was locked up for a total of 29 months.

Lisa Worsley, prosecuting, said the victim and her children had gone to stay with her cousin for the night.

When they returned the following afternoon, the victim found her television was missing from her bedroom and her X-box, Sky box and both landline telephone units had gone.

A cot had been overturned, the kitchen units dragged down and the bathroom was full of waterafter the pipes had been removed. The contents of the kitchen were on the floor and other items had been hurled in the garden.

Mrs Worsley said the stolen haul was worth almost £1,000 and the damage was to the tune of £1,500 The victim would say her confidence had been shattered and she was afraid to go home.

Her children had been scared and distressed. The defendant was caught because he left footprints and fingerprints.

He made no comment when arrested and questioned. Andrew had 74 previous convictions, a lot of them for dishonesty.

For Andrew, Philip Holden said he had been out of prison a couple of days when he committed the burglary.

The barrister continued :" He had nowhere to live for two nights. He was living in a shed. He was cold and had nothing to eat and in part committed this offence in order that he could be returned to prison.

"For a 35 year old man to find himself in that position is very sad indeed."

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt told the defendant: “This was such a nasty offence, leaving this house in such a terrible state. This burglary in itself warrants a sentence of three years in prison.”