A SOLDIER and his wife described being "sick to the stomach" at the thought of a serial burglar searching through their home as they and their children were sleeping, a court heard.

Daniel Holland – who is already serving three years for two other burglary offences – "fished" through the letterbox and managed to pick up the front door key from the arm of a sofa, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 26-year-old then let himself in and took a Canon camera, wallet, mobile phone, an Xbox and a bag containing items the soldier used when on duty.

He also found the keys to two cars – a Volkswagen Golf and Ford Ka – and Holland drove off in the Ford with an accomplice.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said someone went inside the Golf in the early hours of November 14, and had taken some jackets.

The soldier and his wife said in impact statements presented to the court that they were “sick to the stomach” that someone had been in their house in the Saltburn area, while they and their children were asleep.

The Ford Ka was later found abandoned next to Welton House in Middlesbrough, where Holland was inside a flat with the Ka keys in his pockets. A green rucksack was also recovered.

Security camera footage also showed Holland and another man returning to the flat at 3.30am with the rucksack.

Shaun Dryden, mitigating, said Holland was already serving three years for two burglary offences.

Holland – formerly of Bruce Avenue, Middlesbrough, but now of no fixed address – appeared in court via video link from Stockton’s Holme House Prison.

Mr Dryden added: “The only real mitigation is his guilty plea. He knows it’s to be a custodial sentence, he knows he has a bad record.”

Judge Howard Crowson said: “A night-time burglary when people are in the house, including children, causes a great deal of distress and upset.”

He jailed Holland for 29 months after he admitted burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and theft.

His co-accused was dealt with on an earlier occasion and received a suspended sentence after he admitted allowing himself to be carried in the vehicle and handling stolen goods.