SERIAL burglar Paul Thompson has been jailed for four years after breaking into 42 homes.

The 28-year-old targeted houses in Basford, Hartshill and May Bank, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin said Thompson broke into the home of a women in her 80s on the evening of November 14 last year.

The pensioner checked that her property in Sackville Street, Basford, was secure before she went to bed.

But when she awoke the next morning she found a window had been forced and her purse taken, along with a wedding ring and a watch.

Footprints were traced to Thompson. On the same night, he burgled a house in Tavistock Place, Hartshill.

Miss Chamberlin said the victims had gone to bed at 11pm.

When they awoke at 7am the next day, they noticed laptops and a wallet containing cash, photos and bank cards were missing.

A footprint was recovered and was found to be from a Reebok trainer. Thompson was seen wearing a pair of Reeboks on November 15. He was arrested the next day and his trainers were seized.

The court heard there was "very strong" scientific evidence linking Thompson to the Sackville Street burglary and "extremely strong" evidence linking him to the Tavistock Place break-in.

When the footprint evidence was put to him, Thompson admitted he was responsible for both burglaries.

He said he committed the Sackville Street burglary first. He said all the property had gone and he could not recover any of it. He said he did not target old people in particular; he just targeted houses.

Thompson, of Brick Kiln Lane, Cliff Vale, who has two previous convictions for burglary, pleaded guilty to two burglaries and asked for 40 others to be taken into consideration.

The court heard he caused £21,000 worth of damage committing those offences, but stole property worth just £360.

Arif Hussain, mitigating, said Thompson, a father-of-two, had now wiped the slate clean.

He said that, in the two substantive matters, there was no confrontation and little damage caused. But he conceded there was a substantial amount of damage in the offences being taken into consideration.

Mr Hussain acknowledged the burglaries were aggravated, because they happened at night and the homes were occupied.

But he said Thompson targeted houses and not people, and was not aware the first property was occupied by an elderly woman.

Mr Hussain added: "He wants to do the sentence and come out and live a law-abiding life."

Jailing Thompson, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "You have, over the last five or six years, demonstrated you are a committed, repeat burglar of other people's houses.

"I have to sentence you for breaking into no fewer than 42 homes belonging to other people.

"This represents a rather manic, indiscriminate spree of dwelling house burglary."