A ‘THREE strikes’ house-breaker who stole a man’s laptop when he nipped out to the bin has been jailed for 876 days.

Michael Mullings, 41, of Briggate Terrace, Shipley, was desperate for money to satisfy his craving for legal high drugs, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to burgling two Bradford homes, in Denby Lane, Allerton, and Bradford Road, Clayton, on January 1.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson said Mullings was confronted by a 15-year-old girl at 10am at the Allerton house.

He got away with toiletries and went on to burgle the second house early that afternoon, making off with a laptop. The stolen property was recovered when Mullings (pictured) was arrested hours later. Ashok Khular, Mullings’ solicitor advocate, said his client had battled a desperate addiction to Class A drugs for many years. He began using legal highs instead but needed increasing amounts of money to pay for them.

Judge Mark Savill jailed Mullings for three years, minus 20 per cent for his guilty plea.