A BURGLAR was hit on the head with a torch by the house owner after he found him rummaging in his cellar.

Steven Kirkbride had forced two padlocks to a garage and to the cellar in a detached house in Tottington, Bury.

The householder had fallen asleep downstairs but had woken up when he heard a loud noise outside.

Investigating, he went to the garage and saw the padlock had been forced and then saw the padlock to the cellar under the house had also been smashed.

He found Kirkbride crouching in a corner holding a lit gas lighter and hit him with a torch.

Kirkbride, aged 28, of Woolfield House, Wash Lane, Bury, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentence. He admitted burglary. When police arrested him, Kirkbride claimed he had lost his keys and had broken in to find somewhere to sleep.

Kirkbride had previous convictions for drugs offences, handling stolen goods, burglary of a shed and shoplifting. Michael James, defending, said that Kirkbride had been using illegal drugs since the age of 17.

Judge Gillian Ruaux sentenced him to a Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Order, adding that, had Kirkbride actually entered the living quarters of the house, he would have been sent to jail.

because she was convinced he wanted to change.

But she a

"Had you put one foot inside that house, or forced any locks or doors, then you would be going immediately to custody."

Subsequently Kirkbride emptied the contents of his pockets, which included a lock-knife, and lying on the floor until the police arrived.