A BURGLAR who stole a £700 haul from a house in Lexden Road, Colchester, has avoided jail.

Bradley Lewis, 20, took a laptop computer, camcorder and items in the break in in January last year.

He was arrested after one of his fingerprints was found on a tin.

Lewis, from Wigston, Leicester, admitted burglary when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The court heard he is off drugs and is planning to go on a course before joining the railway industry.

He was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and told to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.