A BURGLAR who broke into a man's Bolton home to 'teach him a lesson' has been jailed for two years.

Gary Greenwood had seen Paul Sheard make a statement against him in an assault case, Bolton Crown Court heard.

A judge ruled that though some of Greenwood's personal effects were in the property, he was mainly motivated by revenge.

Prosecutor Helen Longworth said Greenwood was spotted outside Mr Sheard's ground floor flat in Bradford Street at around 6.30pm on April 6, asking a man for a cigarette.

Shortly afterwards he was spotted by Mark Greenhalgh, the caretaker at the flats, attempting to push a television through a window.

Miss Longworth said the caretaker also noticed that Greenwood was carrying a knife in his pocket and called police.

When the caretaker confronted the defendant he claimed that he was Mr Sheard's boyfriend and was retrieving property which belonged to him, the court heard.

Greenwood asked the caretaker to help him carry away some of the items he had taken but he refused.

Mr Sheard was later notified that his flat had been broken into and when the property was inspected it was found that a number of items, including a TV, personal photos and medication were all missing, along with a watch belonging to his grandfather and some Christmas decorations.

The victim said he knew Greenwood and he had given a statement against him in relation to an assault allegation involving his former partner, added Miss Longworth.

Interviewed later by police, the defendant admitted going to the house and taking items belonging to him. And he claimed Mr Sheard had said he could have the TV.

Greenwood, also of Bradford Street, had committed the offence just days after being given a 16-week suspended prison sentence for assault.

He pleaded guilty to burglary and breach of a suspended sentence order.

Claire Brocklebank, defending, said the flat's occupier was not at home at the time and the only confronation had been with the caretaker.

Greenwood, who at one time had been a self-employed roofer, did not accept that he had targeted the property specifically, she added.

"It was not the most sophisticated of burglaries and he was not difficult to apprehend," said Miss Brocklebank.

Her client suffered from anxiety and depression, she told the court, and had not coped well during his period on remand awaiting sentence.

But the court heard Greenwood had managed to abstain from taking crack cocaine while in prison, a problem which had overwhelmed him previously.

Jailing him, Judge Paul Lawton said: "I am quite satisfied that when you broke into his flat that you intended, not only to steal from him, but to steal from him to teach him a lesson."

The judge told the court Greenwood had stolen items which were personally valuable to his victim, such as family photos and his medication.