A BURGLAR who was caught hanging out of the bathroom window at a house he had broken into was yesterday locked up for more than four years.

Andrew Hall, 28, escaped from the property in Middlesbrough, but left behind fingerprints and was picked out in an identification parade by the homeowner.

Hall broke into the house in Marton Road on August 19, less than a month after he was released from prison for a string of other offences.

Harry Hadfield, prosecuting, said the homeowner returned from an afternoon outing to discover Hall clambering from the window.

Mr Hadfield said the woman made eye contact with Hall, whose fingerprints were later found on a cash bag in the house.

Hall, of no fixed abode, was jailed for a total of four years and a month, after time was added on from his previous sentence because he breached conditions of his licence.

Judge David Bryant told him: "You should understand if, when you come out and go on burgling, the sentences will get longer and longer."

Hall was said to be destitute and without support when he left prison because he could not stay with his sister and her child because of his previous drug addiction.

John Gillette, mitigating, said he was offered a place at a hostel and stayed off drugs, but resorted to burglary because he could get no benefits.

Judge Bryant told Hall: "As far as I can see, you had decided to live by burgling.

"This may not have been the worst burglary in the world, but it is a serious offence to enter somebody's home and steal from it."

"This burglary was committed within a month of being released from a substantial sentence for a burglary at somebody's house.