A CARE home burglar who refused to shed light on the whereabouts of stolen keys was left red-faced after a metal detector revealed they were between his buttocks.

Declan Bennett, 20, hung his head in the dock as magistrates were told how the snatched items were discovered by police following the break-in at Darlington's Ventress Hall Care Home.

The court in Newton Aycliffe yesterday (September 5) heard the defendant forced entry into the staff office of the building, which is a permanent home to elderly residents, sometime between 8pm on Sunday and around 2am on Monday.

Sarah Trayner, prosecuting, said a care assistant who arrived at work in the evening returned to the staff office in the early hours to find a security wire had been cut, a window had been damaged, and that her bag and another belonging to a colleague had gone.

Bennett, of Grange Road, Darlington, was located on Stanhope Road and ran off before eventually being detained by police and arrested.

He made no comments when asked about the stolen items but was later found to be hiding a set of car keys between his buttocks and a key fob was discovered in his underpants, the court heard.

Some of the contents from the stolen bags were found by a member of staff in the grounds of a nearby church while a small amount of herbal cannabis was seized during a search of Bennett's home.

Sarah Passfield, mitigating, said her client claimed he was under pressure to commit the burglary by associates who he owed a drug debt.

She told the court Bennett had been taken there, adding the premises was not targeted because it was a care home but because if was an office.

Magistrates heard he had been a drug user in the past and while he had steered clear, except for the occasional use of cannabis, for four years, he still owed £200.

It was during his drug-using period, she said, that he committed a number of burglaries as a juvenile.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the non-dwelling burglary and possession of cannabis.

Bennett was given a three-month curfew from 7pm to 7am and was handed a 12-month community order with a requirement to carry out ten rehabilitation activity days.

He was ordered to pay £140 in compensation.