A MAN who twice burgled his neighbour in a Pershore bedsit and broke into a town school has been jailed for three months.

Wayne Price, aged 20, of High Street, Pershore, pleaded guilty to the three burglaries at Worcester magistrates court last Friday and magistrates said the offences were so serious that only custody was appropriate.

Peter Parson, prosecuting, said Price stole sums of £50 and £90 on November 11 and 18 and was caught by police as he made another attempt a week later. "He explained he was behind with rent and had money problems," Mr Parson said.

Price also admitted stealing books from Cherry Orchard Primary School in January 2001 and Mr Parson said DNA tests linked him to the crime.

Price said he was drunk at the time and did not know what he was doing.

Richard Wilkes, for Price, asked the bench to consider a community punishment because of the early guilty pleas, the fact that Price's father had compensated the victim, and Price needed professional help to sort out his drinking, which would not be helped by a jail sentence.