A THREE-STRIKE burglar committed a spate of break-ins round a village after his estranged mother refused to meet him, a court was told.

Gerald John Paul Dunion headed south after being the subject of a serious assault in his native Scotland.

Durham Crown Court heard he initially went to Teesside, where he had previously stayed while South of the Border, but mixed with several heroin users.

The court was told he went to Ushaw Moor, near Durham, in the hope of seeing his mother, with whom he had lost contact.

But when she refused to meet him he was left sleeping rough in a garden shed, from where he took an old coat.

Matthew Collins, prosecuting, said over the following 24-hours, on February 17, Dunion was responsible for a mini-crime wave, starting with a confrontation burglary in High View, where a pregnant householder came across him skulking round in the hall way.

She woke her partner who chased and caught up with him before frog-marching him back to the house.

Mr Collins said Dunion offered to tell them where he placed some of their possessions if they released him, a deal they reluctantly agree to, in return for a mobile phone and tablet computer.

They also took a photograph of the intruder, which they later gave to police.

Mr Collins said minutes later, however, Dunion burgled another house in the street, taking a hand bag and two purses, plus store and debit cards which he used at a local Co-op to buy items worth a total of £36.

A further attempt to use it later that day was declined.

Dunion committed another burglary in which there was also a confrontation, fleeing with a rusk-sack, and his description was again given to police, leading to his arrest.

Although he made initial denials, after victims came forward to confirm his identity, the 43-year-old defendant, of Kings Road, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, admitted four counts of burglary, one of attempted burglary, one of fraudulent use of the card, plus heroin possession.

Ian West, mitigating, said the assault on Dunion is still subject of court proceedings in Scotland and is how he came to be in the North-East.

“It’s a sorry tale, but he can’t claim much sympathy. That’s the background to this spate of offending over about 24-hours.”

Recorder Ian Atherton, who jailed him for a total of three years and four months, was told Dunion has a record featuring 18 convictions for 59 offences, including several previous burglaries.