TWO hungry burglars helped themselves to a jar of Nutella after getting the munchies during a home raid.

George Jones, 38, and Tracy Corkin, 45, broke into a house on Egerton Street in Sunderland in on the morning of October 6 last year.

The pair, who live just a few hundred metres away from the address they broke into, stole a £750 bike, children’s toys and took a 47-inch television off the wall.

Before wheeling their £2,000 loot away in a shopping trolley down the street, they opened a jar of Nutella in the kitchen.

The pair found navigating their stolen haul in a shopping trolley more difficult than anticipated as police later found the wide-screen TV discarded on a grassy area close to the victim’s address.

After detectives saw CCTV footage showing Jones wheeling the stolen TV down the road, officers attended his home address and located a series of stolen items, including the shopping trolley.

Jones and Corkin, both of Darcy Court, Sunderland, were both arrested and admitted burglary on November 8 at Newcastle Crown Court.

Jones also pleaded guilty to an unrelated offence of having a bladed article.

On Thursday, a judge sentenced prolific offender Jones to three years and seven months behind bars, while Corkin was handed an 18-month sentence suspended for two years.

Detective Constable Michael Boyd, of Northumbria Police, said: “It’s fair to say that this was not the most sophisticated of burglaries with Jones and Corkin leaving a number of evidential traces that led officers directly to them.

“The victim found a jar of Nutella had been opened in the kitchen with a dirty spoon left behind, while Jones was seen wheeling the television away from the victim’s address in a shopping trolley.

“For whatever reason, they then discarded the TV at the side of the road – but took a number of other stolen items back to their home, which was subsequently searched and seized by police.

“Burglary is an incredibly intrusive crime that affects not only victims but everybody who lives nearby and the wider community.”