A ‘THIRD strike’ burglar who raided more than £1,100 of cash and property from a man’s flat while he was seriously ill in hospital has been locked up for two years and four months.

Ronald Horvath was netted after a police community support officer identified him on CCTV footage, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Horvath, 24, of Spring Gardens, Manningham, Bradford, pleaded guilty to burgling the property in Great Horton on February 21 last year.

Prosecutor Adam Walker said the occupier of the basement flat was seriously ill in hospital at the time. After being an in-patient for two weeks he came home to see that his home had been broken into.

While in hospital, his landlord had phoned him with the news, Mr Walker told the court.

Missing was £220 in cash, a £300 Samsung cinema speaker system, an electric beard trimmer and a £600 computer. In all £1,160 of money and property had been stolen.

CCTV footage of Horvath burgling the address was circulated and viewed by the PCSO who recognised him.

He was arrested and questioned but insisted it wasn’t him.

He denied the offence at the magistrates’ court and a trial date was set for June this year.

Today, he appeared before the court on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded in custody and changed his plea to guilty.

Horvath had eight previous convictions for 12 offences, dating back to 2016. They in-cluded two dwelling house burglaries, in November, 2018, and June, 2020.

Horvath’s barrister, Allan Armbrister, said his client had been ill in prison with problems with his legs linked to his drug use.

Mr Armbrister conceded that he was “a third striker” and there was no reason to put forward why it would be unjust to impose the three-year minimum term.

Horvath had already served four months on remand while subject to the Covid restrictions in place in prison.

Judge Ahmed Nadim jailed him for 876 days, the minimum term minus credit for his guilty plea.

He said Horvath already had three burglaries on his record, two of them of dwelling houses.