A BURGLAR who ended up fighting for his life after a crash in a stolen car, has been jailed for two-and-a half years.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Ricky England, 19, suffered a brain injury after a £6,900 Land Rover Discovery he and his accomplice Joel Ludlum, 16, had stolen, overturned when Ludlum was at the wheel.

The pair had raided the home of two pensioners, made off in their vehicle and then struck again at a family home within about an hour.

A mother of two had been asleep on the settee of her house on Sedburgh Street, Burnley, and had been terrified when she awoke to find a hooded intruder standing feet away from her.

Ludlum crashed the Land Rover on Gannow Lane in the town and climbed out after it landed on its roof next to a house. He had been sent to detention for 18 months, last December.

England, who was placed in a medically induced coma after the smash, admitted two charges of burglary and one of theft, last August. The defendant, of Airdrie Crescent, Burnley, had a record for burglary.

He was sent to a young offenders' institution.

Ian Metcalfe, prosecuting, had told the court the pensioners awoke just after 4am, to find their bungalow lights on and that the property, including the bedroom in which they had been sleeping, had been searched.

As well as car keys, a laptop, watch and wallet were amongst the haul stolen.

Ludlum and England then used the Land Rover to commit the second raid, at about 5.15am. James Heyworth, for England, said there had been a stage after the accident when it was not thought he would survive.

He remembered nothing.

Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “In one sense you are fortunate to be here to be sentenced, given the serious injuries you got.”