A DRUNKEN man who raided a couple’s Padiham home at night and was confronted by the victim, has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Ryan Williams, 24, had climbed into the Victoria Road property through a conservatory window at 1.30am and when the householder, who he had awoken, found him he said: “You owe me some money.”

The victim then took hold of the defendant, who told him menacingly: “I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

Burnley Crown Court heard how Williams was arrested after his fingerprints were found, but claimed he had just been taking shelter.

The hearing was told the defendant, a qualified electrician, had lost his job through drink and then became a burglar, which was “very much out of character.”

Williams, of Lowerhouse Lane, Burnley, had admitted burglary, last August.

Recorder Philip Curran, who gave him a suspended jail term, told him: “You would have no complaint whatsoever if I was to send you to custody immediately.”

The defendant received 15 months in prison, suspended for two years, with two years’ supervision and 200 hours unpaid work.