A RAIDER who was convicted of a ‘third strike burglary’ after stealing a man’s £200 PlayStation and games has been jailed for two and a half years.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Simon Vincent, 19, owned up to what he had done and revealed where the haul could be found.

The victim then ended up paying £20 to get his own property back.

The hearing was told Vincent, who apologised to the victim for what he had done, had struck just over a month after he had been given a suspended sentence for putting a brick through his mother’s window and burgling her home.

He had been on a tagged curfew when he took the PlayStation console and was caught through footwear evidence after forcing open a window and leaving a mark on a window sill.

Vincent, of Inkerman Street, Bacup, admitted burglary and was locked up for 29 months.

Sentencing, Judge Beverley Lunt told Vincent she had given him credit for his guilty plea. She said: “You know the minimum sentence I can impose is one of three years in a young offenders’ institution.”

Lancashire police has launched a crackdown on burglars, with offenders warned by the justice system that they face substantial jail terms after three convictions.

A operation in Lancashire has seen over 350 people arrested recently.

The two-month campaign, which was launched in January after a rise in burglary, has seen officers seize almost £30,000 of stolen property and visited numerous other burglary suspects.

Police carried out 183 warrants, searched over 2,800 suspects, seized 89 vehicles and visited more than 346 second hand shops.

Figures show burglary has reduced in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale by 5.8 per cent with 57 fewer victims between April 2011 and March this year compared with the same period the previous year.