A MAN who burgled the homes of people he knew and stole from a friend during a day out has been jailed for six years.

During his five-day spree Steven Chapman also targeted a neighbour’s flat in late May, knowing he was away at the time.

Durham Crown Court heard it began when he and another man, both from Bishop Auckland, were visiting a friend in Ferryhill, but missed their bus home.

Chapman’s companion withdrew £5 from a store ATM to buy fish and chips but later found his debit card missing.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, said Chapman had made an excuse to go and buy food and when his friend checked his account, he found £200 had been withdrawn.

He said Chapman, of General Boucher Court, Bishop Auckland, had taken the card and withdrew the cash but “made a rather poor job of it” as a store assistant found the money and card still at the cash machine.

She hailed Chapman, who was in an apparently intoxicated state, and he returned to take the money and card.

Mr Towers said she later saw Chapman in “animated discussion” with his friend, who suspected him of taking and using the debit card.

The court heard over the next few days he entered the homes of two people he knew in Ferryhill, despite not being welcome, taking property from each.

On his later arrest, fragments of glass from a window he smashed to get into one of the houses were found in the top he was wearing.

Days later, a neighbour of Chapman returned home to find his flat had been burgled with jewellery and a cannabis grinder among missing items.

Mr Towers said the grinder was found in Chapman’s possession a few days later.

He claimed ownership, not the other man, and gave accounts for the other crimes.

But, the defendant, 32, who denied three burglary charges, attempted burglary, theft and fraud, was found guilty by unanimous jury verdicts, after a three-day trial.

Jailing him, Judge Simon Hickey said Chapman, already a three-strikes burglar, would receive no discount on sentence due to his denials.

He also issued restraining orders, preventing him approaching three of his victims, “until further order”.