A SERIAL burglar carried out a house raid near Droitwich only five weeks before he was jailed for seven years.

David Kennelworth was on bail when he broke into a house and stole three TV sets, a safe, jewellery, digital camera, watches, purse and cigars with a total value of £9,000.

A neighbour saw the door of the property in St Richard's Close, Wychbold, smashed in and a Mercedes car parked outside.

The car was stolen a few days earlier during a robbery and was being driven by the defendant on cloned registration plates, said Tim Pole, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court.

Kennelworth, aged 27, of Fleming Close, Walsall, admitted burglary.

He was given a three-year jail term to run concurrently with the seven year sentence handed down at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday, October 8.

He had been convicted of conspiracy to burgle and steal when property worth £300,000 was taken throughout 2007 in 21 domestic and commercial raids.

Judge Richard Rundell gave Kennelworth credit for an early guilty plea to the Wychbold break-in but accepted he had "a formidable history" for this type of offence.

The householder left his property on Thursday, August 28 at 8am but Kennelworth got in four hours later, said Mr Pole.

Among the goods taken were a will, a driving licence and an amplifier.

Police found the stolen cigars at his home address. The rest of the property was never recovered.

Defence counsel Peter Arnold said Kennelworth had lodged an appeal against the seven year sentence on the grounds that it was too harsh.