A 21-YEAR-old Bradford man has been jailed for more than two and a half years for a string of burglaries and handling stolen goods.

Matthew Vear, of North Avenue, Manningham, admitted three attempted burglaries, burglary, two offences of handling stolen goods and fraud.

Yesterday Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC sentenced Vear to 32 and a half months in total, including nine months of a suspended sentence from 2015.

Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw told Bradford Crown Court two men had attempted to break into a house and shed at Lawn Road, Ilkley, in the early hours of the morning on October 17, by pulling on the door handles.

The following month Vear burgled an unoccupied house in Hoyle Court Road, Baildon.

Mr Robertshaw told the court: "Entry was made by removing a lock from the door. The intruder entered and bedrooms were searched. Two empty Armani watch boxes were stolen."

On the same day, November 22, Wear and accomplice Thomas Rothery, 18, were spotted by an elderly woman sitting on a wall looking at her house in Dorchester Crescent, Baildon.

"They were seen tampering with the lock on the side of the garage door," Mr Robertshaw said.

Vear also admitted handling stolen goods and fraud in relation to using a bank card to buy scratch cards at a shop in Long Lee, Keighley, on January 18. The card had been stolen earlier that day from an unattended car.

He also admitted handling a stolen satnav and laptop, which had been taken during a burglary in Cleasby Road, Menston, on January 28.

David Gordon, for Vear, said in mitigation: "This is a terrible mess that Mr Vear has made of his life."

He described how Vear had effectively fended for himself since the age of 13 and had slept on friends' sofas or stayed in hostels, where he came into contact with older people and class A drugs, which has "led him astray from time to time".

Judge Durham Hall told Vear: "The offences are serious, they seem to be planned, and clearly were designed to raise money - for what purpose who knows - possibly drugs, alcohol or simple survival."

Giles Bridge, for Rothery, said his client had recently gained a full-time job and suffered with ADHD. He appealed to the judge that unpaid work was therefore not suitable.

For his part, Rothery, of Mount Royd, Manningham, was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 15 rehabilitation activity days.