A PROLIFIC criminal with 37 previous convictions has been sentenced to three years in prison after admitting a trio of burglaries.

Daniel Short appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, October 6 from HMP Winchester, where he pleaded guilty to carrying out a burglary at a plush gated house in Winton in April this year

The court heard Short, aged 23, forced open a safe at the property in Berwick Road, stealing £45,000 in jewellery and £4,000 cash.

Prosecuting, Stuart Ellacott told the court the owners were on holiday at the time, and the alarm was raised when their cleaner arrived and discovered the property's electronic gates were not working.

Mr Ellacott said: "The electricity to the house had been cut, done in an attempt to stop the alarm sounding. It seemed to work."

Officers later found DNA evidence proving Short was at the scene.

The court also heard that on March 31, around 4.20pm, at an address in Orchard Avenue, Poole, Short burgled a home while the female occupier was working in the back garden. On this occasion he stole a purse belonging to the victim, containing £50-60 cash.

Then, on April 11, at Chester Road, Poole, Short burgled a house and stole jewellery worth £3,000 and £400 cash. The cash was savings from two young children living at the house.

In a victim impact statement read to court, the youngsters' father said his daughter's "cried in terror" after what happened. This statement added: "Our safe place no longer feels safe."

Meanwhile, the impact statement from the woman victim of the Orchard Avenue burglary read: "I feel uneasy now, thinking this was a safe area.

"I hear a noise at night now and feel frightened."

Mitigating, Jamie Porter said: "He (Short) is extremely keen to get off drugs and start acting in an appropriate manner. He is quite adamant he wants to change his ways."

Before Judge Johnson sentenced Short to three years in prison, the court heard he had 37 previous convictions for 67 offences.

Judge Johnson, describing the offences as "three serious burglaries," told Short: "It is very easy to overlook these victims."