A serial burglar with a “horrendous record” was caught after leaving a dirty sock on the floor at his victim’s house.

DNA from the sock traced the offending back to 47-year-old Carl Pollitt, who broke into the house in Chapel Street, Colne, on October 7.

Burnley Crown Court heard the occupier of the house had gone out for the evening after securing the house.

Eddison Flint, prosecuting, said when the man returned to the house at around 1.30am, he found a rear window was smashed and two Rab winter jackets, worth around £200, had been taken.

A dirty sock was also found on the floor and Pollitt’s DNA was present on this.

On October 6 in a separate incident, a man in his 70s, Philip Longbottom, was at his home alone in Skipton Road, Colne, watching TV.

Both the front and back doors were locked and he heard three loud bangs which he first believed to be fireworks, but at that moment the door between the kitchen and the living room opened.

Pollitt was stood in the doorway and said people were trying to break into the house and he had called the police for him.

Mr Longbottom, shaken at this point, got up while the defendant let himself out of the front door.

When he went to call the police, he saw his mobile phone had been taken, along with a wallet, containing £60, a bus pass, and gas and electricity cards.

Pollitt, of West Street, Colne, was arrested on November 24 and provided a no comment interview.

He has 33 previous convictions from 74 offences, with these two incidents being his 10th and 11th house burglaries.

He also has previous convictions for attempted house burglaries.

Mr Flint said the defendant had a “horrendous record for burglary.”

Tom Worsfold, in mitigation, said his client accepted this offending would lead to a significant period of time in custody.

He added Pollitt has a long history of substance misuse and these “impulsive offences” were because of this, but he is “sick of the cycle he is stuck in.”

Recorder Tim Harrington, sentencing, said: “You fall to be sentenced for two separate burglaries in October last year, both at night, and though it has been submitted they were impulsive, they were not in that you were out and about, you were out at night burgling.

“Mr Longbottom is a man in his 70s. You deliberately targeted an elderly man. When you discovered he was elderly, you carried on nevertheless.

“You have a terrible record for burglary and you have previous convictions for attempted burglary and burglary of non-dwellings. These form a pattern of habitual burglary.”

Pollitt pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary in a dwelling at a plea and trial preparation hearing in December.

He was sentenced to six years in prison.