A DRUNKEN burglar has started 15 months' detention - and a judge has paid tribute to the eagle-eyed schoolgirl who helped put him there.

Young dad Glen Bowers, 19, was spotted with his accomplices by the 11-year-old girl who kept on his trail - despite being told to go away, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The victim had already been burgled just two weeks before.

Recorder Anthony Sander said Bowers had four previous convictions for burglary and he did not accept it was an opportunistic offence.

He wanted to publicly record appreciation to the girl who, together with her father, managed to bring Bowers to justice.

The judge said without their public spiritedness, the defendant may well have got away with it. He said: "She showed a great deal of guts. So many people just turn away, but she didn't."

Bowers, of Spencer Street, Accrington, admitted burgling the house on Devonshire Street, Accrington.

Mark Lamberty, prosecuting, said the defendant and two others kicked in a rear door panel and took electrical equipment worth £1,550.

Very little was recovered.

The girl saw three men in the yard and saw Bowers carrying a black bin bag.

She was told to go away but about an hour later returned and followed the culprits.

The defendant was later captured by police but his accomplices escaped.

Bowers denied burglary and said he had run off because he thought a warrant was outstanding for his arrest.

Robert Crawford, defending, the defendant had been drunk after a cocktail of alcohol and cannabis and he and his friends had been looking for somewhere to take drugs.

The offence was not pre-planned.

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