A burglar who stripped his neighbour's home of furniture has been put on probation for 12 months.

John Pugh broke into Gavin Brown's Kidderminster flat while he was away, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Police looked through Pugh's letterbox in Witley Close and spotted some of the stolen goods.

A number of items were recovered but goods worth £1,200 were untraced, said prosecutor Lawrence Watts.

A motorbike stolen in Plimsoll Street, Kidderminster, also ended up in Pugh's home. Parts of the machine were discovered there by police. Pugh, 33, pleaded guilty to burglary and handling stolen goods.

Judge Ian Morris said he had committed a mean offence against his neighbour. He warned that despite "profound medical difficulties", Pugh would be jailed if he carried on offending.

On August 23 last year, Pugh told Mr Brown that someone had broken in, a panel was smashed in his front door.

Mr Brown, who had been away for a month, had checked his property a fortnight earlier and found it intact.

Mr Watts said: "It is quite plain the property was targeted and emptied. Everything was removed. It was just a shell."

At first Pugh insisted he was sold the furniture by "six smackheads" but then confessed he stole it along with accomplices. No-one else was charged.

Police found the bike parts after a disturbance near Pugh's home. Another man was seen wheeling the stolen bike away.

Mr Laban Leake, defending, said Pugh had been the victim of bullying. He needed the help and support of a probation officer.