A PROLIFIC offender targeted an elderly man's home so he could steal to buy drugs after spotting the homeowner enjoying a pint in the pub.
John Fairburn, 33, is back in jail after a neighbour raised the alarm with police when he saw him "acting suspiciously" outside 83-year-old Brian Parkin's home in Grange Road, east Hull.
Fairburn, who has 31 convictions for 98 offences, knew Mr Parkin was not at home because he had previously been in the same pub as him.
He admitted attempted burglary and possession of a bladed article on August 4 this year.
Prosecuting, Joanne Jenkins told Hull Crown Court how Fairburn was trying to break in through a boarded-up window. She said: "At 4.20pm, police received a report from a witness that a man was trying to force his way into the property.
"The man was stopped and found to be in possession of a metal coal shovel, a piece of shattered glass and a piece of wood.
"He was searched by officers and also found to have a kitchen knife in his pocket which had a 3in blade. He was arrested. The eyewitness described seeing the male using bodily force to enter the bungalow."
Fairburn told police he had not been trying to get into the bungalow and said he had forgotten he had the knife, which he had been using earlier that day to remove a plaster cast pot from his leg.
At the time of the offence, he was on recall after being jailed for 12 months for assault causing actual bodily harm, being in possession of a bladed article and theft.
In mitigation, Stephen Robinson said Fairburn's crimes had been led by his addiction to drugs and that he turned to drugs again when he found out his girlfriend had been cheating with a friend while he was in prison.
"The defendant saw the older man in the pub and that is, unfortunately, why he made a shameful decision to go to his house," said Mr Robinson.
Sentencing Fairburn to eight months in prison for the burglary and four months for possession of the knife, Judge Simon Jack said: "You targeted an elderly man. That is an extremely mean offence. Elderly people are extremely vulnerable and can be extremely upset by having their homes burgled."
• Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
• Crime news for Hull and East Yorkshire
