A BURGLAR was identified by his victim’s neighbour when she recognised the picture of a wanted man on Facebook.

The resourceful neighbour had managed to take a photograph of Alan Ryan Adamson as he walked down a back lane following a break-in at Grays Avenue, Durham.

She was then able to identify Adamson from an image of him posted on a Facebook message board as he was wanted for other matters.

Durham Crown Court heard that heavily convicted Adamson’s bid to go straight ended when he attempted the unsophisticated, drunken daytime break-in.

The householder of a property in Grays Avenue was in the front garden when he heard a crashing sound from the rear of his home, at 4pm on January 3.

Durham Crown Court was told he made his way round to the back to discover the dining room window had been smashed.

Despite being warned not to go in, by a neighbour, the resident entered at the back of his home to confront the intruder.

He told him to leave, which Adamson tried to do, unsuccessfully via the locked front door, but he made his escape from the back door.

Andrew Finlay said Adamson left with a store carrier bag containing a wallet and an apron, making off down a back lane, to a waiting car.

He got into the passenger seat and was driven away by an unknown accomplice.

The court was told early the following morning police were informed Adamson was at an address in Bearpark, where officers attending found him lying on a couch.

Officers recovered the carrier bag containing the property stolen in the break-in

Mr Finlay said the burglary victim’s neighbour then identified Adamson from her photo and the Facebook post.

The victim, who has lived at his home for 39 years, was said to have been badly shaken by the ordeal and the thought someone could break-in in such a manner.

Adamson, 26, of The Fells, a hostel for homeless men in Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, denied responsibility in his initial interview, but admitted the burglary at the crown court plea hearing.

The court heard it makes him a “fourth strike” burglar.

Vic Laffey, mitigating, said the defendant indicated he would plead guilty when he appeared before magistrates.

“He knows there is an inevitability of the outcome of today’s hearing," he said.

“He was drunk at the time and sincerely apologises to the complainant for the disturbance it has caused.

“He was working and had accommodation, doing okay for a time. He’s lost all that.”

Jailing him for 32 months, Judge Jonathan Carroll said it would have been 48 months but for his early admission.