A BURGLAR who stole a 50 inch television from a shared house and then blamed it on another man has been jailed.

Darren McGee was sentenced by The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, via a video link to Holme House prison where he is on remand.

The 33-year-old's guilty plea to burglary meant he became a so-called ‘three strike burglar’ having committed two house burglaries previously.

McGee was arrested following the burglary in Bowesfield Lane, Stockton, on September 6, but initially denied the offence, blaming it on an accomplice.

However his fingerprints were found on the television which was recovered.

Another man admitted the burglary also, but after being charged went missing before he was due to appear at magistrates court and is yet to be traced.

The victim had locked his room door after going out and returned to find the TV being carried out of the door by McGee and his accomplice.

The door frame had been damaged in order to gain access.

Peter Wishlade, mitigating, said McGee, who was wearing a prison issue jumper, had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Judge Bourne-Arton gave McGee, of Hartington Road, Stockton, a mandatory three year jail sentence, but said a fifth would be deducted from the jail term for his guilty plea.