A HAPLESS burglar who opened the door to police officers while raiding the same flat for the second time in a single day has been jailed.

Marvin Russell, of no fixed abode, had been homeless for a fortnight after being released from prison when he broke into a property in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth.

His barrister told a judge sitting at Bournemouth Crown Court that he had pleaded with prison officers not to release him as he had nowhere to go.

Prosecuting, Simon Jones said police were called after a neighbour saw Russell break into the front door of the block of flats.

"When the police arrived at the property on the second occasion, the defendant opens the door and stolen property is found on him," he said.

An iPad, laptop, camera and a set of earphones were recovered.

However, Russell had "flashed" the iPad, removing personal photographs and documents which could not be recovered.

An impact statement was read aloud to the court, in which the victim said he had been "violated", adding: "I hope the offender will be sent to prison so we can sleep safely in our beds."

Mr Jones said Russell was a "three-striker" with 36 convictions for 66 offences to his name, including other dwelling burglaries.

Mitigating, Leslie William Smith said the 38-year-old defendant is a "long-standing addict" who had been recalled to prison in November last year as he received little support from the probation service in Dorset.

"When he came to be released from this recall in February, three days before that time, he notified probation that they should not release him because nothing was in place for him," Mr Smith said.

"He had identified that he had no accommodation, no methadone script in place, no drug agencies [to support him] and no money. He asked not to be released because he would fail as he failed [before]. Nothing happened - on February 3, the door [of Winchester Prison] was opened and he was let out."

Mr Smith said Russell slept rough on the streets of Bournemouth for two weeks without methadone before burgling the property.

"He committed the burglary before returning in the hope that he could wipe clean his fingerprints," he said.

Sentencing Russell to 18 months behind bars, Recorder Jeremy Wright said: "It was two burglaries, effectively one but in two parts.

"You do have a very, very bad record."