A FEMALE intruder was found by police trying to hide in an upstairs bedroom of an unoccupied house, a court heard.

The owner of the terraced property in Ninth Street, Horden, County Durham, was not living there, at the time of the offence, in September last year.

But, Durham Crown Court was told he planned to make it available for rent and only two neighbours were given permission to enter.

Sam Faulks, prosecuting, said a short time before the incident, a rear window was broken and so was boarded up by one of the neighbours.

Mr Faulks said several possessions were left in the property, including a hi-fi and lap-top.

In the early hours of September 11 neighbours were awoken by noises coming from the supposedly deserted house.

Police were called at about 2.30am and, on arrival, noticed the boarding had been removed from the broken rear window.

Officers from the force’s dog section went into the house and found Rachel Donlan hiding under boxes in a bedroom.

She was in possession of two torches and a pair of gloves and so she was arrested on suspicion of burglary.

Mr Faulks said Donlan claimed she had been “out and about” in Peterlee, “looking through bins” that night.

On her return to nearby Horden she claimed to have been chased by unknown people and, so, sought sanctuary in the house, entering via the boarded up window, before hiding upstairs.

But, at a previous hearing, 36-year-old Donlan, of Eleventh Street, Horden, at the time, admitted a charge of burglary, arising from the incident.

The court heard it put her in breach of a previous nine-week suspended prison sentence.

Jonathan Walker, mitigating, told Judge Christopher Prince: “She spent six months in custody from the time of her arrest, but more recently was bailed by your Honour and has spent seven weeks in a rehabilitation centre in Birmingham.”

He said she is receiving drug rehabilitation assistance, but he added that the court may benefit from an updated background report on his client, prior to sentence.

But, Judge Prince said that as she has spent six months behind bars since the offence a community order would be the most appropriate sentence, to enable her to receive “on-going guidance from the Probation Service”.

He made her subject of a two-year community order, supervised by the Probation Service.