A BURGLAR who breaks into shops through the roofs was told by a judge yesterday that one day he would fall off and kill himself.

Judge Michael Taylor told James Dobbing, 21, to stop his rooftop crimes as he jailed him at Teesside Crown Court.

In November, Dobbing twice climbed on to the roof of Stockton's Debenhams store to break in. He caused £10,000 damage to locked tills to steal money.

Rooftop burglaries were a regular feature of Dobbing's criminal history and he had no convictions for house burglary, said Patricia Mancina, prosecuting.

Dobbing was arrested on DNA evidence from two pairs of gloves he left behind in Debenhams. He was captured as he fled from police through the loft areas of houses in Durham Road, Stockton.

Dobbing, of Northbourne Road, Stockton, was jailed for 19 months after he pleaded guilty to the burglaries and also to criminal damage.

The judge told him: "You are a regular attender of the courts, you are a thief and a burglar and you get in through roofs.

"One of these days you will fall off a roof and kill yourself. Stop it.

"The next time you come back you will get twice what I am giving you today."