A thief who took carpet worth £1,500 from an empty flat has been spared a prison sentence.

Mark Steers, 32, pleaded guilty at Basildon Crown Court to burglary. Only £120 worth of carpet was recovered.

Steers, of Great Oxcroft, Laindon, was told by Judge Daniel Worsley: "It is quite miserable knowing a thief has been in your home, even though it was unoccupied."

Unemployed Steers, who receives state sickness benefit, was ordered to pay the flat's owner £350 compensation.

He was given an 18-month community rehabilitation order (probation) and a four-month home curfew order, from 7pm to 6am.

Published Tuesday January 20, 2004

Brought to you by the Evening Echo