A 54-YEAR-OLD-old drug addict burglar from Stourbridge who broke into a cottage in a village near Worcester has been jailed for five years.

Steve Chaplin smashed a back window at Cudleigh Court Cottage, Spetchley, and stole a laptop, camera and other items, Worcester Crown Court heard.

On the same day, during the afternoon of September 16 last year, he tried to break into Hunters Moon Cottage, also in Spetchley, by smashing a back window with a brick, causing £200 worth of damage but he did not get into the house - Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, told the court.

Chaplin then took a taxi to Worcester Shrub Hill Station and was later caught on CCTV trying to sell the laptop to a second-hand shop in Stourbridge but staff would not accept it because access had been blocked by the owner.

Chaplin, of Enville Street, pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary and one of attempted burglary.

He also admitted a burglary at Little Acres Farm, Stratford, on December 9 2014, where he had stolen various items including jewellery and a Rolex watch, and asked for an attempted burglary in Acton Trussell, Warwickshire, to be taken into consideration.

He was looking for money to buy class A drugs and to pay off debts of between £7,000 and £8,000, Mr Whitfield told the court.

Richard Hull, defending, said Chaplin had been released on bail after his arrest for the first offences and had then committed the second offences.

Mr Hull said: "He now wants to adopt a law-abiding lifestyle because he realises that at his age, this can't go on."

Chaplin had 20 previous convictions dating back to 1978, including 11 for house burglaries, the court heard.

He wrote a 40-page letter to the court and was also the subject of psychological and pre-sentence reports.

Judge Richard Rundell said Chaplin was a "prolific" burglar with an appalling record and he added: "It's got to stop. Members of the public are entitled to be protected from the likes of you."

Chaplin was given five years for the two Warwickshire offences and four-and-a-half years for the two in Worcestershire to run concurrently, a total of five years.

At an earlier hearing, Chaplin was said to be taking part in the Restorative Justice Pathfinder Scheme being piloted at Worcester Crown Court but this did not take place.