A PROLIFIC burglar who continued offending after being put on a drug treatment and testing order has been jailed for two and a half years.

Shaun Burrows stole more than £15,000 worth of property in raids on homes across the town to fund his heroin habit.

The 26-year-old mainly targeted homes empty during the day time and took electrical items such as laptop computers, DVD players and games consoles.

In the week before Christmas he was put on a drug treatment and testing order by a judge at Swindon Crown Court after admitting another burglary.

But just the day before he appeared in court Burrows had broken into a house and taken property worth more than £2,000.

And he went on offending until he was caught with items stolen from a house in Euclid Street in the middle of January.

Defence solicitor Rob Ross said that through no fault of his client's the order had never started as no contact was made with him.

Richard Thomas, prosecuting, said Burrows, who has a long list of previous convictions, was arrested on a separate matter which did not go before a court and police searched his home.

They found items reported stolen from the house in Euclid Street earlier that day.

Burrows, he said, made a full and frank confession and after he had been remanded in custody by magistrates he asked to see the police.

When he was spoken to he confessed to a further 13 offences of burglary or attempted burglary involving £15,000 of goods.

In the Euclid Street raid he took a DVD player, watch, mobile phone and about 250 DVDs worth £2,800.

On November 27 he raided a house in Lincoln Street taking an X-Box games console, two laptop computers and a minidisc player worth a total of £4,909.

Three weeks earlier at Elmore, Eldene, he took a video camera and two cheque books worth £358.

Burrows, of Frobisher Drive, pleaded guilty to four burglaries, one attempted burglary and asked for nine other offences to be taken into consideration.

The court was told he was jailed in 1999 for three years for burglary and theft.

Mr Ross said since his arrest Burrows had been in custody and so was clean of drugs.

He said his client had been fully co-operative with the police and many of the offences he had admitted would not otherwise have been solved.

Jailing Burrows, Recorder Christopher Clark QC said: "You have a bad record for burglary as you know and you were sent to prison for a very substantial sentence some four years ago.

"One of the most serious aspects is that you came before the court on December 17 and you were then given a drug treatment and testing order.

"It is thus clear to me that approximately ten of these offences were committed whilst you were on bail.It is totally unrealistic to contemplate adjourning this case for you to reside at a bail hostel for the possibility of breaking your habit.

Giles Sheldrick