A “PROLIFIC” burglar found by police hiding in an upstairs store room of a Malvern shop has been given a last chance after a court was told he had been offered a job.

Police found that a large window at H Preston in Worcester Road, Malvern, had been smashed and a metal security grille behind it had been forced when they responded to an alarm at 5.30am on January 16 this year, Peter Grice, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court.

The family business – selling hi-fi equipment, broadcast quality cameras and other electrical goods – had CCTV cameras damaged, phone wires ripped out and a display cabinet knocked over.

The damage amounted to £9,000 to the property and £27,000 to the stock, said Mr Grice.

Glyndwr Jenkins, aged 34, of Richmond Road, Malvern, pleaded not guilty to burglary at an earlier trial and was cleared by a jury.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary with intent to steal.

The court was told that Jenkins, who ran upstairs to hide when the alarm went off in the shop, had a record of dishonesty, including several offences of shop theft, stretching back 18 years.

Jason Aris, defending, said the jury had cleared Jenkins of taking any items from the shop. He said Jenkins had had a heroin problem since his teenage years and had taken to drinking as a replacement for drug use. He had been drinking the evening before the offence.

Mr Aris said the owner of a landscape firm in Ledbury had offered Jenkins regular employment and considered that the work he had done before had been of a high standard.

Judge Robert Juckes said Jenkins was a prolific burglar whose formidable record of dishonesty painted a bleak picture.

However, he said: “There are signs now you have got to grips with your heroin addiction and have been offered a job. You have said yourself it is time to grow up and this is your last opportunity.”

He gave Jenkins a six-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, with a supervision order. He was also given an electronic curfew between 8pm and 6am for six months.