A BURGLAR with more than 100 crimes on his record was caught red-handed as he climbed through the bedroom window of a young woman who was home alone.

Michael Jacques, 34, had taken 30 Valium tablets before he tried to sneak into the ground-floor flat in Darlington last month, a court was told.

The drug addict had been planning to target his neighbour’s property in Dodd Street for hours before his audacious attempt shortly before midnight.

The tenant, 19, heard a noise coming from the bedroom, rushed in to see what was going on, saw Jacques crawling through the open window and screamed.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the intoxicated intruder ran off, and the following morning the victim realised a jewellery box had been taken.

The box - which contained her grandmother’s necklace - was later found discarded in bushes between their two homes, prosecutor Harry Hadfield said.

Jacques was arrested after police looked at closed circuit television camera footage from a communal garden and recognised him, but he denied it.

When he appeared in court via a video-link from prison for what should have been a formal hearing, he pleaded guilty and asked to be sentenced.

He was jailed for two years and five months - the minimum three-year sentence for a third-strike burglar less discount for an early guilty plea.

Judge Simon Phillips, QC, told the career criminal: “You have an appalling record and the courts have attempted a variety of disposals in your case.

“You have breached a number of court orders and you have been subjected to suspended sentence orders.

“You are liable to a minimum term of three years.”The impact on the victim has been brought about by your actions. You had been before the courts a month earlier when you were given a community order.”

The court heard how Jacques - who has 123 offences on a record going back to when he was a teenager - was also on a tagged curfew last month.

His lawyer, Ben Pegman, said: “His problems emanate from a long-standing addiction to drugs, primarily heroin.

“He tells me he is extremely sorry.”

The victim told in an impact statement how she now feels nervous and unsafe in her home, and has to keep her windows closed despite having asthma.