A BURGLAR who attacked a social club steward during a break-in has been jailed.

David Hey, 31, left George Owens unconscious, with a fractured rib, loose tooth and a burst lip after he smashed a window and entered Trimdon and Deaf Hill WMC.

The 65-year-old manager went to investigate after hearing the alarm at around 2am on December 30 and found Hey trying to open a fruit machine in the bar with a screwdriver.

Lisa McCormick, prosecuting, at Durham Crown Court, said: “There was violence used against the occupant.”

In a victim impact statement, Mr Owens, who lives next door with his wife, said: “I was very scared and feared for personal safety. I could have been badly hurt."

Hey, of The Rowlands, Wingate, also burgled the Sainsbury’s store in Peterlee with another man on August 30.

CCTV showed him, wearing a balaclava, behind the security shutter trying to get cigarettes from behind the counter.

He was caught after police found his DNA in a blood sample left at the scene.

Hey initially denied responsibility for the break-ins, but pleaded guilty to two counts of entering a building with intent to steal and a further charge of entering as a trespasser with intent to commit grievous bodily harm during a previous hearing on November 7.

The court was told he has a total of 37 convictions for 87 offences, including four burglaries, assault, affray and harassment, dating back to 2000.

Hey read a letter over the videolink from HMP Durham, where he is being held, to explain his life began unravel when his girlfriend miscarried their baby four months into her pregnancy.

He said: “I am sorry to everyone who has been affected by my actions.”

Judge Simon Hickey sentenced him to three years and eight months imprisonment.

He said: “This cannot possibly be a suspended sentence because of the gravity of the offences.”