A CONVICTED burglar who told a judge a load of "baloney" to cut his curfew hours has been jailed for 12 months for perverting the course of public justice.

Serving prisoner, Michael Boyle, whose address was given as HMP Leeds, pleaded guilty yesterday to lying to Judge Robert Bartfield by pretending he was working late at nights for his father, who owns a takeaway in Bradford.

The judge, keen to promote Boyle's supposed work ethic, relaxed the start of his overnight curfew from 8pm until 11.30pm.

But Boyle, 30, who has a string of previous convictions, including a similar one for perverting the course of justice, was not telling the truth.

His father would not be employing him until he proved he could stay out of trouble, the court was told.

Boyle took a dim view of the sentence and vented his anger on his way back to the cells at Bradford Crown Court.

He launched a prolonged tirade of shouting and swearing behind the dock door, prompting The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, to threaten to bring him back into court in handcuffs to apologise.

But the security staff in the cells said they wanted to get Boyle back to prison sooner rather than later.

Boyle's lawyer, Tom Rushbrooke, said he was currently serving a 22 month prison sentence for breach of a suspended sentence for dwelling house burglary and possession of an offensive weapon.

Relations were strained between Boyle and his father but when he asked Judge Bartfield for the curfew variation in July last year, he was genuinely hoping to obtain work at the takeaway.

"He is now a father himself and realises he needs to change his ways when he comes out of prison," Mr Rushbrooke said.

Judge Thomas said Boyle had been "in all sorts of trouble and had all manner of sentences," for matters including driving offences and burglary.

"Judge Bartfield was good enough to vary the curfew to 11.30pm. A generous and proper attitude but it was all baloney," Judge Thomas said.

He jailed Boyle for 12 months to run consecutively with his present sentence.