TWO young burglars have had their liberty “restrained” as an alternative to them mixing amid the potential bad influence of other criminals in custody.

Jacob Chambers and Corey Ramplin were caught not far from the scene of a breakfast time burglary at an outhouse, attached to a property in Helford Road, Peterlee.

A young mother preparing breakfast in the kitchen spotted the two intruders looking through various drill parts and fishing rods in the adjoining outhouse, at 7.15am, on September 18.

Durham Crown Court heard she knocked on the window and they ran off, although one returned to pack items into a back-pack, before fleeing.

On checking, the householder discovered a drill set, worth £180, plus keys on a distinctive metal skeleton key-ring from the back door, were missing.

Police were called and officers searching the area spotted the duo on a nearby rear footpath, at 7.50am.

Despite efforts to run off and hide, both were arrested and the back-pack, containing the stolen drill parts, was recovered from under a parked van.

The key-ring was also recovered from the pair, as were keys from another house burgled in Teign Close, Peterlee, earlier that morning.

Phillip Morley, prosecuting, said a child’s school bag was also taken from that address.

Chambers was also found in possession of keys from a shed burgled in Pentland Close, again during the early hours that day, from where valuable tools, worth an estimated £1,350, were taken.

Mr Morley said those tools were not recovered.

In interview Chambers said he took, “loads of blues”, referring to class-C drugs, the previous night and had no memory of anything other than going to bed, while Ramplin made no comment.

Chambers, 18, of Tenth Street, Horden, admitted all three burglaries, while 20-year-old Ramplin, of Staveley Road, Peterlee, admitted just the Helford Road break-in.

Both have single offences of house burglary on their criminal records.

Jonathan Walker, for Chambers, said many facets of his “troubled” life were in need of intervention and assistance, while Jane Waugh, for Ramplin, said it might assist to keep him away from other offenders at this stage.

Judge Christopher Prince made both subject to four-month, electronically-monitored 6pm to 6am home curfews, as part of 12-month community orders to include 15 activity days working with the Probation Service.

He warned both that any breach would land them back before him, with inevitable custodial sentences to follow.