A 30-YEAR-OLD man who handled property stolen in a Christmas raid on a profoundly deaf couple's home, has been sent to jail for seven months.

Father-to-be Brendan Ormonde, who was found at 7.30am in a car with the burglar, had originally been given community rehabilitation, but appeared at Burnley Crown Court for breaching the order.

He was resentenced by Judge Raymond Bennett, who said he had an appalling record for dishonesty and other offences and the handling was "hot," committed a short time after the break-in.

Ormonde, of Girvan Grove, Burnley, had earlier admitted handling stolen goods.

Zabeeda Maqsood, prosecuting for the Probation Service, said the burglary took place in the early hours of December 28.

The occupants had gone to bed, after removing their hearing aids, and were awoken at 7.20am by the police who entered their bedroom.

The victims did not know what had happened but found their home had been broken into and £350 worth of property stolen.

Police pursued a car for a short distance and found three people inside. The defendant was the passenger and he said he had been with his girlfriend and had met up with one of the other man.

He said the co-defendant had left the vehicle and he didn't know what he was doing. The man returned a short time later with bin bags containing property and Ormonde had a rough idea of what he had done.

Dennis Watson, for Ormonde, said the community rehabilitation order, with the addressing substance-related offending programme he had agreed to proved too much for him.

He had had problems with amphetamine, his lifestyle was not organised and although he had been highly motivated and determined, it did not last a long time.

Ormonde's girlfriend was pregnant, the child was due in April and they intended to leave this area in an attempt to change the environment he had lived in for so long.

The defendant hoped when he was released, he would be able to draw a line under his past and make a fresh start.