A MAN spared jail after threatening "to do a Raoul Moat" is finally behind bars after breaching the suspended sentence he was given.

Robert Thompson was caught after a burglary at a flat in Northgate, Darlington, when its plumbing and immersion heater were stolen last summer.

At the time, the 31-year-old was the subject of a suspended prison sentence and a community order for earlier crimes, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Thompson - who has a criminal record involving more than 160 offences - was jailed for a total of 20 months by Judge Sean Morris yesterday (Wednesday, April 27).

An accomplice in the burglary, 50-year-old Mark Crang, was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months with 100 hours of unpaid community work.

The court heard Crang was cycling past the flat in the early hours of July 13 when he was asked to help with what he thought was a house clearance.

But CCTV footage showed the pair coming and going from the property armed with tools and removing property over three hours.

Former business boss Crang, of The Byway, and Thompson, of Beaconsfield Street, both Darlington, admitted burglary at an earlier hearing.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden said jobless Thompson was given a suspended prison sentence for assaulting police and making threats to kill.

He was taken to hospital after being arrested, and told his bedside guard: "I'm going to wait outside his work and follow him home and burn his house down.

"I'm going to buy a crossbow and kill him [arresting officer]. If I see any of those cops when I'm out, I'll slit their throats, with a rusty can if I have to.

"I'm going on a killing spree of coppers, and I'll slaughter them. I'm either going to shoot them or they'll shoot me. I'm going to do a Raoul Moat."

Thompson's barrister Penny Bottomley, told the court he had cut his prescription of a heroin substitute to nil to show his family his dedication.

She said his mother had vowed to let him live with her, and his father had offered him a job if he could kick his long-standing drug habit.

Jonathan Walker, for Crang, said he had been a successful business owner until his late 40s, but suffered a series of "hard knocks".

He said Crang began "living like a hobo" and "cycling around like a creature of the night" after his father's death and starting taking drugs.

Judge Morris told Thompson: "You have an appalling record. You have no intention of ever complying with any community order, and I am satisfied you will spend the rest of your life getting longer and longer sentences."