A drug addict whose father caught him burgling the family home was sentenced to three years in a young offenders' institution, yesterday.

Robert Laver, 20, of Tennyson Avenue, Grangetown, had already burgled the homes of his girlfriend, a cousin and a friend to feed his heroin addiction, said Graham Reeds, prosecuting.

Laver turned up at his parents' house in Grangetown, Teesside, from which he had been banned, Teesside Crown Court heard. When his parents left, he broke in, but was caught when his father came home.

Laver had lived with his "perfectly respectable" girlfriend until she found heroin hidden in her garden shed, and told him to leave. He later raided her home and stole her collection of ornamental dolls.

Michael Bosomworth, defending, said Laver was now reconciled with her and his family after becoming drug-free in Northallerton Prison.