A BURGLAR who robbed an 86-year-old deaf woman was caught because he left his fingerprints on a piece of paper, a court was told yesterday.

The woman was in her home when a light flashed in her lounge telling her that there was someone at the front door, said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.

When she opened it she found Joseph Delaney, 23, and indicated that she could not hear. She went for a pen and paper so that he could write down what he wanted.

Delaney wrote he wanted a glass of water and she went to get him one, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When she came back, she found that her purse with £40, her bus pass and library cards was missing.

But, by holding the piece of paper, Delaney left his fingerprints which were matched to him, the court heard,

Christopher Baker, defending, said that Delaney was addicted to heroin and crack cocaine but was weaned off them by his family. It was an opportunistic burglary committed when he was out canvassing for work.

Delaney, of Cornfield Road, Fairfield, Stockton, was jailed for 15 months after he pleaded guilty to the burglary, in Middlesbrough.