A SERIAL house burglar had received “more minimum terms over the years than you’ve had breakfasts,” a judge told the prosecutor at Bradford Crown Court.

Steven Hill-Hands had racked up 47 convictions for 155 offences, many of them for breaking into people’s homes, prosecutor Kristina Goodwin said.

Hill-Hands, 47, of Grattan Road, Bradford, was on licence when he was caught red-handed burgling a property in Hilton Road in the city on July 7.

He was about to creep upstairs, where people were sleeping, when the householder jumped on him and pinned him down until the police arrived.

Miss Goodwin said Hill-Hands was a third strike house burglar, meaning he was liable to be jailed for a minimum of three years.

To which the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, replied: “He’s had more minimum terms over the years that you’ve had breakfasts.”

Hill-Hands’ solicitor advocate, Ashok Khullar, said: “At the age of 47, he has nothing effectively to show for his life.”

But the judge told Hill-Hands: “You have managed to pack quite a lot in.”

The defendant’s “sad career” as a burglar was driven by his drug addiction, the court heard.

Hill-Hands, who was in custody, was jailed for four and a half years.