A MAN who burgled his former landlady's Kidderminster home has been jailed for 12 months.

Heroin addict Michael Keechan got away with a substantial haul of goods but left valuable electrical items behind, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Victim Andrea Stanley alerted police to Keechan because as her former lodger in Chestnut Grove he knew the electrical goods were defective and not worth stealing.

Prosecutor Nigel Reader said Keechan also stole whisky from a store and a £1,000 mountain bike which had been left on a garage forecourt.

Keechan, aged 25, of Dowles Road, Kiddermister, pleaded guilty to burglary, three thefts, driving without a licence and while uninsured.

Tim Harrington, defending, said despite early convictions, Keechan had stayed out of trouble for five years, got a job and became a law-abiding family man with a young son. While in custody on remand he had undergone detoxification and would to put drugs behind him.

Deputy Judge Thomas Dillon QC said he could only pass a custodial sentence for a defendant who had committed "offence after offence".