A burglar had a shock when the owner of a house he was attempting to steal from retur-ned unexpectedly.

Bingley magistrates heard that Andrew Cramp, 26, a father of four young children, needed to steal in order to feed his heroin addiction.

Michael Wrigglesworth, pro-secuting, said that at 2.45am on July 20 Cramp rested his ladder against a former employer's home with an accomplice. However, the attempted burglary was foiled when the owner looked out of the front window and recognised him.

Cramp, of West Bank Rise, Braithwaite, was interviewed by police and admitted his part in the offence. He was also charged with possession of heroin and failure to surrender to custody, to all of which he pleaded guilty.

John Holden, defending, said until quite recently Cramp was a stable and reliable member of society. His heroin addiction had ruined his family's life as well as his own.

Three weeks ago he had looked skeletal when he appeared in court, and his family was now pleased to see him looking better. They had opposed bail at the time because they thought he needed some time in prison to break his addiction.

For failing to surrender to custody, Cramp was sentenced to one day in prison. The bench agreed to the prosecution's request that he be sentenced for the other matters at the Crown court.

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