A former soldier and prolific burglar with more than 150 offences to his name stole from an East Lancashire hospital before assaulting two emergency workers.

Heroin addict Liam Tomlinson, 36, was seen loitering by security staff at Burnley General Hospital on August 7, Preston Crown Court heard.

He was with a woman, and told security staff he was homeless, but was ordered to move on, which he did, only to return the following day.

Prosecuting, Mercedeh Jabbari said the pair were once again told to leave the site on August 8, but not long after, it became apparent there had been a burglary.

Ms Jabbari told the court one member of staff returned to his locker after finishing a shift to discover a bag with his clothes, house keys, and car keys in it had gone, and several other staff lockers had been damaged.

A second member of staff, who had left her desk area tidy the previous day had arrived to find her drawers had been rifled through and a can of Fanta, biscuits and gloves had been left behind.

Following a review of CCTV footage, police were sent to an address where they believed Tomlinson would be and found him in the rear yard.

Ms Jabbari said: “One of the officers forced the gate and called out his name but he barged past her.

“She grabbed him as he went and tried to push him against a wall but the struggle continued.

“A second officer arrived and tried to detain Tomlinson but she too was pushed away, with the first officer ending up on the floor.

“PAVA spray was used in the struggle and Tomlinson grabbed at one of the officer’s hair.

“When he still wouldn’t desist, the second officer punched him three times , before two members of the public came to assist and the defendant was finally arrested.”

Ms Jabbari said around the same date, a woman had her bank card stolen from her car, and was contacted by her bank who said her card had been used for £84 worth of transactions in Best Booze in Burnley and a grocery store.

She approached Best Booze for CCTV but they couldn’t provide her with any, although the shopkeeper did give her a description of the people he believed had tried to use her card.

Ms Jabbari told the court that as the victim made her way home she saw Tomlinson, and a woman, and approached them to ask about her card, but they left before her card could be returned.

Tomlinson admitted the offences during police interview and said he was on crack cocaine and heroin at the time.

Mitigating, James Heyworth said his client was an “opportunistic thief and burglar” and he was at the stage where either the drugs were going to kill him or he tries to address his behaviour.

He said: “It’s very rare to see addicts of class A drugs, particularly heroin, living into their 50s and 60s because of the effects on their body.

“He has started on a methadone programme in custody and is on the recovery wing, and I think everyone, including him, understands that breaking the link between addiction will break the link with his offending.

“He was a soldier, but left the army and has since had 16 years of using class A drugs and 16 years of offending.”

Sentencing Tomlinson, who has 68 convictions for 152 offences, Recorder Tanya Griffiths KC said: “I accept this is a lifestyle caused by you taking drugs, but you chose that lifestyle, and these offences were aggravated by the fact you were on bail for something else at the time.”

Tomlinson, of Towneley Street, Burnley, was jailed for 38 weeks.