A DRUNKEN burglar caught by a police dog inside a charity shop which raises money for an Elland-based hospice has been jailed.

Anthony Bottomley, 34, was spotted by a local resident climbing a drainpipe and breaking a window at the Overgate Hospice charity shop on Keighley Road, Halifax, in July.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how police officers who attended the scene used a police dog to detain Bottomley who was in possession of the cash float from the shop’s till.

Bottomley, of Washington Street, Lee Mount, Halifax, tested positive for opiates following his arrest, but after being released on bail he failed to attend court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In August, while he was still at large, Bottomley committed a second burglary at commercial premises in West Parade, Halifax, but he was linked to that break-in by his fingerprints.

When he was arrested in October Bottomley was found hiding in a divan bed.

The court heard that Bottomley had convictions for similar offences, but his barrister Louise Azmi urged Judge Jonathan Rose not to jail him immediately.

She said her client had had far too much to drink at the time he broke into the charity shop and she submitted that the offences were committed at a time when he had gone back to his “old ways”.

Bottomley, who admitted two charges of burglary and failing to surrender to bail, was jailed for a total of 13 months.

Judge Rose said he was a prolific offender albeit his criminality had slowed down in recent years.

He said it was obvious why the charity shop offence was serious.

“It’s the charity that suffers and therefore the beneficiaries of the charity that suffer,” he told Bottomley.