A “20-STRIKE” housebreaker caught hiding under the bed at the home he had just ransacked has been jailed for three years and four months.

Serial burglar Anthony Jackson did up to £3,000 damage at the address in Wrose, Bradford, and had a stolen wallet, bank cards and gold jewellery on him when a police dog flushed him out of his hiding place.

Jackson, 39, of Wrose Road, Shipley, was on licence and on bail for handling stolen bicycles when a neighbour heard loud banging and saw lights on at the property in the early hours of December 18, Bradford Crown Court heard. The police arrived to find Jackson “garden hopping” at the back of the houses before he ran back into the unoccupied home that was being renovated, prosecutor Jade Edwards said.

He had two torches, a wrench and a crowbar with him and had smashed a nearby garage window in his search for items to steal.

The court heard that he broke into the house by damaging new patio doors and proceeded to ransack the place, pocketing the wallet, cash and jewellery from a bedroom drawer.

In his search for things to plunder, Jackson put his foot through the loft ceiling and damaged internal doors.The repair bill was estimated by the householder to be between £2,000 and £3,000.

Jackson spent twenty minutes raiding the house before he was apprehended, Miss Edwards said.

He had 46 previous convictions for 162 offences, including 20 house burglaries and 91 thefts and similar matters of dishonesty.

Jackson’s barrister, Gerald Hendron, said he had stayed out of trouble for eight months after being released from his last sentence for house burglary. He suffered with anxiety and depression and had taken too many tablets on the night of the burglary. He was bitten by the police dog when he refused to come out from under the bed.

Jackson had been recalled to prison and the limited amount of clothing he had been given didn’t fit properly, Mr Hendron said.

He pleaded guilty to the burglary at the first opportunity and to dishonestly handling a bicycle and bicycle frame.

The court heard that the police found stolen bikes and bicycle parts in Jackson’s shed and a wheelie bin when they searched his address on November 14. One victim had owned his treasured cycle for 21 years.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, jailed Jackson for a total of 40 months. He told him: “You ransacked and damaged the property and caused significant financial loss to the victim, and your culpability is higher because you were clearly equipped for burglary and it involved a degree of planning.”