A NEW dad who armed himself with a knife and went breaking into houses in the middle of the night, has started a three-year jail term.

Burnley Crown Court heard how heroin addict Shabir Iqbal, 29, the father of a six-week-old daughter, raided a property while the occupants were asleep in their beds. He told a jury he had gone out looking for drugs and although he had been subject to a curfew at the time, he did not pay any attention to the court orders.

Iqbal, of Broughton Street, Burnley, was convicted of burglary after a trial. The court heard he had been caught out after somebody spotted what was going on at the back of the targeted property.

Sentencing him, Judge Raymond Bennett said he had a long record of convictions and although he had been carrying a knife and that had been a worrying feature of the case, he did not sentence him on that basis. He ordered confiscation of the knife. The court heard the defendant had convictions going back to 1987 and had served five years and nine months for robbery.

Nick Courtney, defending, said Iqbal realised custody was inevitable. He had a bad record, but had not got any convictions for burglary in the last 12 years.

He had been addicted to heroin since the age of 16 and it was inevitable with that lifestyle that convictions were going to follow. It was no mitigation, but was an explanation of why the defendant had such a bad record.

Iqbal had an 11-year-old step-daughter and now had his own daughter, born six weeks ago. He had been on remand in custody and had never been at liberty during the child's life.

The defendant now had an incentive he never had in the past to ensure that when he was released from his sentence that he did not return to a life of drugs and crime.

Mr Courtney added the defendant claimed he was now clear of heroin.