A BURGLAR who climbed through the roof window of a house and stole two watches branded himself a ‘scumbag’ in court.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Lee John Sidlow had only been released on licence from prison the day before he committed the burglary at the house in Park Street, Accrington, on March 7.

Prosecuting, Kathryn Johnson said that when the property owner had left her house she had locked the majority of doors and windows but left the rood latch window ajar.

Sidlow, now of no fixed address but formerly of Albert Street, Accrington, climbed in to the house through that window and ransacked every room in the house.

Ms Johnson said Sidlow escaped from the property with two Fossil men’s watches, 300 South African rand and some pound sterling.

Sidlow sold the rand for £20 but the watches have since been returned.

When police went to the house they found a distinctive Nike trainer footprint on the window and CCTV footage also showed Sidlow in the area at the time.

When he was recalled to prison on an unrelated matter he was wearing the same hoody as the man on the CCTV camera.

Officers also matched the tread on the shoes he was wearing to the footprint at the crime scene.

Ms Johnson said: “Clearly the defendant targeted the property because the window was open and there was nobody at the address. He accepted that in his police interview.

“The property that was stolen was of some sentimental value but the Crown cannot accepts it’s been returned.

“It is aggravated by his offending history and because he was on licence at the time it was committed.”

Sidlow, who has 45 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to burglary.

Defending, Darren Lee-Smith said his client regretted committing the offence and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Addressing Judge Lunt, Sidlow said: “I am a scumbag. You won’t be seeing me again. I quit. I am not doing it again.”

Jailing Sidlow for eight months, Judge Lunt said: “You put it better than me. You don’t go into someone else’s home. It unsettles them for a long time.

“If you don’t quit next time you will be three years prison minimum as you would be a three-strike offender.”