A 'THREE-STRIKES' burglar, who broke into neighbours' flats, has been jailed for four and a half years.

And a co-accused, who threatened a man with a syringe and told him he had a disease, was also locked up.

Prolific burglar Joseph Brockies had several previous convictions for burglary, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Mehran Nasiri said Brockies, 36, of Knowles Avenue, Holme Wood, Bradford, had been jailed for four and a half years for dwelling house burglary in 2011 and had committed other burglary and theft offences since.

Mr Nasiri said Brockies rented a flat in Harrogate Road, Bradford, but the locks had been changed because he had not been paying rent.

On August 27 last year, three flats had their doors kicked in, including that of Brockies, who had broken in to retrieve his property. Two televisions had been stolen from the other flats. Brockies was seen on CCTV and identified by the landlord.

Five days later, Brockies was discovered in a rented house in Pemberton Drive, Little Horton, by the occupant. The defendant said 'sorry, bro,' and tried to escape by climbing out of a window, but was restrained.

The complainant got back some of his belongings from Brockies' pockets, who then ran away. He was arrested two days later.

His co-accused, Simeon Shabir, was seen holding a laptop in the garden. A witness took hold of Shabir but he became aggressive. The witness put Shabir in a head lock, but he produced a syringe, told him he had a disease and held the needle in his hand. There was a struggle, during which the witness sustained a number of scratches.

Police arrived and arrested Shabir who was found to be in possession of two needles syringes and a stolen mobile phone.

Brockies pleaded guilty to three burglaries. Shabir, 24, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one burglary, handling stolen goods and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Lisa Julian, for Brockies, said he had been drug free but after separating from his partner he fell back into using drugs which led to the spate of offending.

Judge David Hatton QC told him: "You are, and have for many years been, a prolific burglar. Quite clearly only an immediate custodial sentence can follow."

Simon Hustler, for Shabir, said his client had played a subordinate role in the joint burglary.

Jailing Shabir for 18 months, Judge Hatton said he had slashed out with a hypodermic needle, causing some injury, and indicated the needle might be contaminated.

"That is a considerable aggravating feature of your offending," the judge said.