men acting suspiciously A WINDOW cleaner who argued with his partner over his failure to do housework decided to share his troubles with a friend.

But Karl Crompton ended up being arrested by police who had received information they had been acting suspiciously near a Blackburn house.

An alert neighbour had spotted the duo, taken down the car registration and passed details to police.

Karl Crompton, 24, of Shurmer Street, and George Davies, 35, of Holly Croft Avenue, both Bolton, admitted going equipped for theft.

Davies, who had 45 previous convictions for dishonesty was jailed for a year and Crompton, also with previous convictions, got nine months.

Paul Treble, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court how a man saw a car with the engine running in the small hours.

A person was seen to get out and the vehicle drove off.

The person shone a torch into the property on Beardwood Park and a security light came on.

After the registration number was noted the car was later stopped and with the two defendants inside.

Also discovered were two pairs of gloves,three torches and two screwdrivers.

Janet Ironfield, defending Crompton, said he had his own window cleaning business.

He had not gone out with the intention of committing an offence.

Crompton's girlfriend was a student and she had only returned from college at 11pm to find Crompton had not done the domestic chores.

She told him to leave the house and he drove her car around. The articles found were used for car repairs.

The defendant wanted to work out his frustration and wanted to talk to someone.

He and Davies had driven around endlessly.

Richard Orme, defending Davies, said he had pleaded guilty and had already served the equivalent of a five month sentence.

The journey to Blackburn had been a speculative one. It had not been a target as such. They had been after what they could get.

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