A LONE mum-of-two caught a night-time house breaker after he left his mobile phone at her property in the rush to escape, a court was told.

Victim Tracey Fitzpatrick checked Shaun Taeny's text messages, realised one had been sent from someone she knew and rang her and asked her who owned the phone. The girl told the victim it was the defendant and he was later arrested.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Taeny, who had kicked in the front door and ransacked the premises, claimed to officers he had sold his mobile to a "bag head," and he must have left it at the house.

Taeny, 27, of Bevington Close, Burnley, admitted burglary at the premises in the town, on February 5. He was jailed for 16 months.

The court was told the victim had gone to bed early as she was not well and had been asleep for about two hours when she heard the sound of breaking glass downstairs. She thought it was her partner, who had a key, called out and when she got no response, went to the bedroom door.

The woman saw a flash of light, rang her partner and when he said he was not downstairs, she decided to go and investigate.

The front door was slightly open and damaged and when she went into the lounge, she found property had been moved around. Items were strewn across the floor and X box games had been stolen.

The hearing was told the mother of two thought the burglar must have fled in a hurry as he had left his mobile telephone on the floor. She checked the text messaged and then rang the girl asking who the phone belonged to.

Richard Taylor, for Taeny, said he had no previous convictions for house burglary. He had failed to cop-operate with orders in the past and accepted he would be going to prison.

The solicitor added:"He intends to use his time in custody constructively and wants to be a proper father to his child."