A SERIAL burglar who targeted the home of a heavily pregnant woman has been jailed for three years.
Thomas Critcheson, 34, broke into a house after he returned to a life of crime despite his intention to stay out of trouble.
The victim, who was eight months pregnant and lived alone, returned home to discover her home in Captain Walk, close to Hull Marina, had been ransacked.
Prosecutor James Byatt said: "She opened the door to her flat and felt a breeze. She walked through to the rear living room and found her glass patio door had been broken and her cupboard was open.
"She was so frightened, she ran to her friend's house. Her friend accompanied her back and the police were called.
"A bedroom drawer had been opened and blood was found on it which matched the defendant's DNA."
Critcheson stole a laptop and a phone charger and jewellery worth more than £753.99.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: "I am both shocked and frightened to the extreme by what has happened. I'm scared to be on my own in the house and I sleep with the lights on.
"It has made me very nervous. Before this happened, I was not nervous at all."
Critcheson, of Coltman Street, west Hull, pleaded guilty to burglary at Hull Crown Court.
He has 64 previous convictions, including 18 burglaries.
His barrister Stephen Robinson said: "He has a bad record, he has wasted much of his life. He apologises to the victim.
"He had been released from his last custodial sentence and was resolved to stay out of trouble and he did for five months.
"Things started out well, he had given up drugs but sadly he was living with a girlfriend who had an amphetamine addiction.
"He was unable to pay the rent and bills and they were at risk of being thrown out of their home. He went back to what he knows best in a desperate attempt to raise some money.
"He intends to go back to giving up a criminal life. His sister died of a drugs overdose when he was younger and that did not stop him.
"He has destroyed his health by his drug addiction and his life."
Recorder Jason Smith jailed Critcheson for three years.