A PROLIFIC house burglar who tried to steal the keys to a Range Rover worth about £60,000 has been jailed for more than three years.

Nathan Dick, 26, was already on prison licence for a previous burglary when he targeted a house at Crosland Road, Oakes, in the early hours.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that the occupants of the house were asleep at the time, but they were woken by their barking dog after Dick smashed a window with a hammer.

Prosecutor Abigail Langford said the householder believed the burglar was trying to get the keys to the Range Rover, which was worth around £75,000 new, and Dick later accepted that was the motive for the crime.

Dick, of Huntingdon Avenue, Bradley, was linked to the break-in by a bloodstain left at the scene and following his arrest he went on to tell the police about a further 26 house burglaries or attempted burglaries committed over a three-year period.

Dick pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary with intent in relation to the house attack in Oakes in February and asked for the 26 other matters, some of which also included taking vehicles, to be taken into consideration.

He was jailed for a total of 40 months after a judge gave him a one-third reduction on his sentence for his early guilty plea.

Judge John Potter heard that Dick, who was sentenced to four years for aggravated burglary in 2004, wanted to wipe the slate clean and had told the police about his offending over the last few years.

The judge told the defendant: “The position is Mr Dick that you in terms fund a lifestyle by invading other people’s homes.

“It is quite apparent that’s what you have been doing for a significant period of time.”

The judge said someone who behaved in that way, causing misery to the community in which they lived, could only expect an immediate and lengthy custodial sentence.