A REPEAT burglar was warned he is facing the usual prison sentence for “three-strikes” offenders of three years or more after he admitted his latest break-in.

Patrick Michael Carlin, 46, was accused of burglary at a house in Grove Terrace, Burnopfield, County Durham, in which electrical items and jewellery were stolen, on Thursday January 17.

He pleaded ‘guilty’ during a short hearing at Durham Crown Court today (Thursday April 4), but sentence was adjourned after his barrister, Paul Caulfield, asked for preparation of background reports on his client by the Probation Service.

Judge Peter Kelson agreed to the request, but told Mr Caulfield: “He’s a three-strike burglar and presumably knows it will be a mandatory sentence of a certain length.”

Carlin, of Royal Crescent, Fenham, Newcastle, was remanded in custody for sentence on a date yet to be confirmed, later this month.