A 25-YEAR-OLD man who was turned out of prison and on to the streets ended up sleeping on a garage floor covered with coats he had taken from another garage.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Lee Holden then stole from other garages in order to feed himself and had, inevitably, been recalled on his prison licence.

And defence solicitor Graham Parkinson asked the court not to 'throw away the key' when they sentenced Holden for the latest offences.

Holden, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of two coats from a garage in Leyburn Road and burglary at a garage in Cambridge Drive and theft of power tools. He asked for three similar offences to be taken into consideration. The magistrates sentenced him to a total of 74 days, which will run concurrent to the sentence he is already serving.

Claire Fanning, prosecuting, said a Mrs Walker, going to work, went into her garage and noticed a pile of coats on the floor.

"As she looked, the coats moved and Holden came out," said Miss Fanning.

Mr Parkinson said Holden had come out of prison and had been effectively left to his own devices.

"He was living rough and simply took the coats from one garage and slept under them in another," said Mr Parkinson. "The other offences were committed effectively to feed himself."

"He hopes that when he is released that something can be arranged to help him, but in the meantime, he would ask you not to throw away the key by imposing a substantial consecutive sentence. That would just delay him addressing the underlying problem."