A DRUGGED-UP man was found asleep in a couple’s caravan after raiding £2,000 of property from their garage, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

The judge told Anthony Britton he was being given one last chance and had avoided an immediate jail sentence by “a hair’s breadth.”

Britton, 47, a former drug addict, had 116 offences on his record, including housebreaking and 60 matters of theft.

But the court was told he had turned his life around since the garage burglary in 2019, except for one “blip” last October when he stole speakers worth £500 from a shop in Leeds.

Britton, of Bolton Hall Road, Wrose, Bradford, now had a secure home life and a job, his barrister Shufqat Khan said.

He pleaded guilty to burgling the garage in Eccleshill in June, 2019, and stealing the speakers from Home Sense on the West Side Retail Park on October 12 last year.

The court heard that the Bradford couple saw that their garage had been opened and alloy wheels and high value tools were gone.

The lock was snapped on the window of their caravan parked on the drive and Britton was asleep inside. He was “groggy, vacant and unresponsive.”

After his arrest, he was found to have tablets in his possession and he said he had taken Valium and had no recollection of the burglary.

The stolen property was recovered from the street round the corner.

Britton then went on to shoplift the speakers from the store. They were never recovered, the court heard.

His barrister, Shufqat Khan, said he had made huge efforts to turn his life around since the burglary back in June, 2019.

His addiction to Class A drugs was ruining his life but he had sought help to become drug free and found a stable home life and full-time employment.

The shop theft was a single “blip” on his road to recovery, Mr Khan said.

Recorder Tom Little QC said Britton had “an appalling record” for theft and domestic burglary.

He had taken £2,000 of property from the garage before being found by the householder asleep in the caravan.

He had then gone on to commit the offence of shoplifting last October.

Recorder Little told Britton he had avoided immediate custody by “a hair’s breadth.”

“You have been given a chance that many judges would not have given,” he told him.

Britton was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

He must pay £500 compensation to Home Sense and £340 court costs.