A DRUG-addicted thief who raided his own mother's home has been spared immediate jail - but a judge slammed his actions as pathetic.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Wesley Andrew, 30, had struck after he asked both his mother and his sister for cash but was refused.

He broke into the family home and helped himself to DVDs, which he later took to a pawn shop.

Andrew, now said to be fighting his addiction, had previous convictions for burglary and was in breach of a conditional discharge for stealing a woman's lawnmower after he took on gardening work.

The defendant, of Cog Street, Burnley, admitted burglary and had been committed for sentence by Burnley magistrates.

He was given 12 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, with 18 months supervision and a nine month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Judge Michael Byrne told Andrew he had come lose to going to jail for a minimum of three years.

The judge said: "I think the public deserve better help from the court and better protection than is afforded by a short period of custody. The public can be best protected by assisting you to get off drugs."

Gareth Jones, defending, said Mrs Andrew had been in contact with both the probation service and her son's solicitors and had told them she was keen he received help for his drug problem. She did not want to see him go to prison.