POLICE woke a householder to tell him he had been burgled, a court heard.

Thief Andrew Hutchinson was caught after an eagle-eyed police officer spotted him hiding in a bush in a garden in Church Street, Ainsworth, at 4am on August 3.

Brian Berlyne, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court how 37-year-old Hutchinson smelled of alcohol and had three mobile phones on him.

Nearby was a case containing more mobile phones and an NHS card which led them to a house on Ainsworth Road, Bury.

Police went to the address and woke the householder, Alan Noone, who discovered he had been burgled in the night. Nine mobile phones, worth a total of £2,140, which Mr Noone had been repairing for customers, had been taken along with £330 cash, an iPod, iPad and his girlfriend’s handbag.

Meanwhile, a delivery driver noticed a bag nearby and handed it into police. It contained the remainder of the stolen gadgets.

When arrested Hutchinson, of Moss Road, Bury, claimed he had found the stolen property in the street, but later admitted he had burgled the house, walking in through the front door.

“He said he was walking past and the door was ajar. Unfortunately he could not resist temptation,” said Rachel Faux, defending.

Hutchinson, who appeared in court via a video link, pleaded guilty to burglary. The court heard that at the time he was on licence from prison. He has previously served jail sentences for burglary.

Ms Faux said that since he was first incarcerated drug addict Hutchinson has only spent two-and-a-half years out of prison. “This court has someone before them who is completely institutionalised,” she said.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson, sentenced Hutchinson to three years in prison. “You have problems with drugs and have led, for many years, a very unstable life,” he said Judge Clayson.