A CAREER criminal has been put back behind bars for 32 months after clocking up his 100th crime.

Ian Taylor was with an accomplice when they raided a house in Bradley Road, Stourbridge, and stole alcohol, £10 in cash and a purse containing credit cards.

But an investigating police officer, who had known the 39-year-old prolific offender for more than 20 years, recognised Taylor immediately when he viewed CCTV - even though his face was covered.

Duncan Craig, prosecuting, said Taylor's long list of previous convictions included 15 other burglaries.

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court the pair got into the house while the occupants were asleep and they moved one CCTV camera with a line prop.

But they failed to spot a second camera, which continued recording and the footage enabled police to make a quick arrest.

Richard Davenport, defending, said Taylor's life had been dogged for many years by his addiction to heroin.

But he stressed that Taylor, of Milton Close, Amblecote, had started taking determined steps to resolve his drug habit and put his life back in order.

Mr Craig told the court that police had failed to identify and track down the second man involved in the burglary which Taylor admitted.