A “THIRD strike” house burglar who pretended she had been invited round for drinks has been jailed for more than two years.

Nicola Cliberon was caught looking in the fridge at her victim’s flat at 7pm on April 13, Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday.

Cliberon, 48, who had 46 previous convictions for 124 offences, claimed she had been asked round for drinks at the flat upstairs.

But when the householder checked, the occupant of that flat didn’t know who she was, prosecutor Louise Pryke said.

Cliberon, formerly of Rastrick but now of Trinity Place, Halifax, then left the flat with the man’s keys and a pair of cufflinks from his bedroom.

He went out the next day looking for her in Halifax and alerted the police when he recognised her.

She was arrested and made no comment when interviewed by the police.

Her victim was left feeling, upset, angry and uneasy, the court was told.

Mrs Pryke said Cliberon had three previous convictions for house burglary, in 1992, 2002 and 2009. She had also been convicted of robbery, shoplifting and deception.

In 2017, she was jailed for 18 months for stealing from a 77-year-old man she went to help after he collapsed in the street.

Then living in Highfield Road, Rastrick, she was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for two charges of theft and one of attempted theft.

Cliberon was remanded in custody following last month’s burglary and sentenced on a video link to Newhall Prison and using the Skype system.

Her solicitor advocate, John Bottomley, said she had a conversation with her victim rather than a confrontation.

She apologised and walked out of the flat when she was caught in the kitchen. She was not aggressive or threatening towards him.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cliberon had been running errands for elderly family members.

She had issues with Class A drugs and was using her time in prison to wean herself off them.

Mr Bottomley said that because of the pandemic, the inmates at Newhall were behind bars for all but half an hour a day, when they showered and exercised. He urged the court not to go above the three-year minimum jail term.

Cliberon recalled nothing of the burglary and was very remorseful, he said.

Judge Jonathan Gibson sentenced her to three years’ imprisonment, minus 20 per cent credit for her prompt guilty plea, making a total of 876 days, or about two years and four months.