Carlisle burglar raided bedroom as mother and child slept

Ricky O'Neil's victims described being left feeling "violated" by his break-ins

A burglar who snatched possessions from a bedroom as a three-year-old boy and his mother slept has been jailed for 40 months.

Ricky O'Neil also stole military watches worth thousands of pounds during a raid on another home in Carlisle.

The city's crown court heard his victims felt "dirty" and "violated".

The 37-year-old, of Rydal Place, admitted four burglaries and one attempted burglary.

O'Neil first smashed a patio door of a property on Kingstown Road on 3 September while the family who lived there were out for Sunday dinner.

He took the watches from the male householder's "man cave" along with sentimental items including a Thunderbirds metal figure set which he offloaded at a branch of Cash Generator.

The family, including an eight-year-old girl, were badly affected and upped security and installed bars on a window.

'Scared and vulnerable'

Having been interviewed by police and released from custody, he went on to commit further burglaries four weeks later.

He took three NHS hoodies from a department at Carlisle's Cumberland Infirmary after being admitted for examination following arrest.

Having discharged himself, he broke into two homes on Dalston Road.

At the first, he snatched two phones from a bedroom while a woman and her three-year-old son slept.

The court heard he left a hospital wristband bearing his name at the scene.

The woman's husband later spoke of feeling "dirty" when he thought of what O'Neil might have touched, while his wife described being "scared, vulnerable and violated".

At a second property on the same street, an elderly lady woke to see O'Neil sneaking around the end of her bed.

The court was told an attempt to break into another property, this time on Colville Terrace, caused the householder so much stress he had begun suffering epilepsy seizures several times a day having not had any incidents for the previous six years.

O'Neil had relapsed into drugs before committing the offences and had little recollection of them, his barrister, Kim Whittlestone, said.