A BUNGLING burglar who broke into the wrong house and stole food from the kitchen has been sent on an alcohol treatment course.

Jordan Sidell was homeless and living on the streets of Teignmouth when he went to the house in Fraser Drive where he thought his grandparents lived.

He was found by police as he left the house and had a knife in his pocket which he dropped on the ground when he was challenged.

The police had been called shortly before 4 am on January 31 this year because Sidell had gone to his mother’s house 100 metres away in Coleman Avenue in defiance of a court order to stay away from it.

He was spared an immediate jail sentence at Exeter Crown Court because he has found a new home and a job and started to reduce his drinking since his arrest.

Sidell, aged 26, now of Cockhaven Close, Bishopsteignton, admitted burglary, breach of a restraining order and possession of a knife and was jailed for 40 weeks, suspended for two years by Judge Timothy Rose.

He was also ordered to do 15 days of rehabilitation activities and made subject of a six-month alcohol treatment requirement (ATR) which will be administered by the addiction service Together at their Newton Abbot office.

The judge told him: ‘These were potentially confrontational circumstances, you had a knife in your possession, and the burglary was at night. You also woke up your mother in the middle of the night, causing her concern.

‘The obvious answer would be to send you straight to prison but I have considered the information about the ATR and the positive changes you have made to your life in the past two months.’

Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said Sidell’s mother Charlene was woken at around 3.45am on January 31 by him ringing her doorbell and trying to get in.

He was later arrested after breaking into a house in Fraser Drive where he stole food. He had a knife but dropped it when challenged by police.

Mr William Parkhill, defending, said Sidell now accepts he needs help to curb his drinking and is keen to undertake an ATR. He has been offered a home for as long as ne needs I by a friend and is working up to 50 hours a week at a pub in Kingsteignton.

He said: ‘What happened that evening is that he went to his mother’s address and did not get an answer and staggered a bit further to the address where his grandfather used to live.

‘He broke into a store cupboard to access food. The two reasons behind this were his homelessness and alcohol. He was properly homeless at the time and had been street drinking.’