Burglar Luke Coleman was so remorseful after breaking into the home of his former girlfriend's parents, he took rat poison and threw himself off the roof of a multi-storey car park, magistrates heard this week.

Coleman, 18, from Eastleigh Road, Devizes, claimed he broke his right leg, pelvis and two vertebrae in the bungled suicide attempt.

He had pleaded guilty to breaking into the house in Commercial Road, Devizes, on the night of January 31, knowing the mother and father of his ex-girlfriend were asleep upstairs.

He and his accomplice, George

Preston, used the back door key, which Coleman knew was left in a convenient place, entered the house and carried out a search of the upstairs before stealing a TV, DVD player, video recorder, DVDs and a handbag containing cash and tobacco. The total of the items stolen was nearly £1,000.

Amanda Sawetz, prosecuting, told magistrates sitting in Andover the householder asked his nephew to keep his ear to the ground among the youth of the town and eventually found out that much of the stolen equipment could be found at Preston's house.

The police raided the premises and found the goods. Preston told the police that Coleman was involved and he, too, was arrested. The DVD player, which Preston had sold on, was recovered from another address in Devizes.

Preston pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to two years' community rehabilitation, formerly known as probation.

Ms Sawetz told the court that although the DVD player and video had been recovered, the TV was damaged in the theft and the DVDs, valued at £200, and £20 cash had not been seen again.

Raymond Tan, defending, said Coleman's split with his girlfriend had been bitter and she had made derogatory remarks about him, claiming that he had raped her.

As a result, Coleman had been beaten up by the girl's cousins on a number of occasions, including a few days before the burglary. He had been drinking cider with Preston and was very drunk when Preston suggested they break into the girlfriend's parents' house, which was no more than 100 metres away.

Mr Tan said: "He remembered nothing of the incident and his recollections of the night came from Preston. When he woke up the following morning at Preston's, he saw all the items around him and came to the conclusion that something must have happened."

Mr Tan added that Preston and Coleman parted company a few months later when Preston found a new girlfriend and the two got into drugs.

He said: "My client felt he had let down his girlfriend and his whole

family. He took Warfarin and leapt off a multi-storey car park in Swindon. He survived but he will walk with a limp for the rest of his life."

Mr Tan said Coleman had taken steps to rehabilitate himself and had stopped drinking.

Ms Sawetz said that the victims of the burglary had said the burglary still had an impact on their lives.

Presiding magistrate Joanna Robertson said: "Your offence was made more serious by the facts that it was someone's home, they were in it at the time and it was at night. It was someone you knew and you knew where they hid their key. It has caused them enormous distress."

Coleman was sentenced to 18 months' community rehabilitation and was ordered to attend the Probation Service's Think First programme. He must also see a psychiatrist and a alcohol counsellor. He was ordered to pay £50 compensation and £43 costs.