Luck ran out for gambler Darren Mimms when he turned to burglary to fund his betting sprees.

He was eventually caught because he left his fingerprints in at least three of the ten homes he raided.

Mimms, 20, pleaded guilty at Basildon Crown Court to burglary and was sent to a young offenders' institution for three years.

His victims were often elderly, vulnerable householders, said Mark Owens, prosecuting.

Mr Owens said Mimms broke into the home of one disabled woman and dropped his social security book.

While the woman was on the phone to police Mimms returned to retrieve the book, but was later arrested because of his fingerprints.

Mr Owens said at another house Mimms broke in while the elderly owner was mowing the lawn, but the defendant was seen running away after stealing £155.

Mimms, who has previous convictions for theft, asked for seven other offences to be taken into consideration.

His barrister Robert Neill said not only did Mimms have an addiction to gambling but had got in with an unsavoury crowd.

Mr Neill added: "His family was at a loss to deal with his gambling. He realises these offences were unpleasant and that a custody sentence is now inevitable."

The barrister said that during Mimms' time locked up on remand he had joined Gamblers' Anonymous and was making sound progress.

Mimms, of Cambridge Gardens, Chadwell St Mary, was told by Judge Peter Greenwood: "People whose homes are broken into suffer a terrifying and wretched experience."

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