Burglar locked up.

A BURGLAR who ransacked a house while the owners were sleeping has been jailed for three and a half years.

Paul Taylor, of Halford Avenue, Bewsey, Warrington appeared at the town's crown court after being found guilty of burglary and theft at a previous hearing. He had denied the offences.

Taylor and another man had broken into a house and taken car keys, credit cards and cash before fleeing the scene when the owners were awoken by the noise.

Days earlier, Taylor had stolen a set of extension ladders from a builder's yard and was on bail when he committed the burglary.

Francis Nash, defending, said Taylor, a drug user, was drug-free while in custody, resisting the temptation to use drugs offered him by other inmates.