Man, 31, jailed after stealing more than £2,800 from flat above Scarborough's Wellington pub

Prolific offender Craig Uden, 31, broke into the flat above The Wellington pub on Castle Road after sneaking into the beer garden.

While the landlady was downstairs, Uden stole her mobile phone, computers including three laptops and two tablets, jewellery and two handbags containing personal items and cash.

Prosecutor Rob Galley told York Crown Court that Uden had climbed up to the flat and sneaked in through a fire door at about 2.15am on September 22 last year.

The landlady, who lived in the flat with her partner, went upstairs to call police on a separate matter but realised her phone had been stolen.

She checked the pub’s CCTV footage which showed Uden slipping into the private living quarters from the beer garden, before rummaging around the bedroom, lounge and kitchen.

Among the stolen jewellery were at least two gold rings. Uden also made off with £1,300 in 50p pieces which he had taken from a tin inside the flat.

Some of the £2,860 haul was found on Uden when he was later arrested inside a flat after police identified him on CCTV. The recovered items included a laptop, a gold ring, the Nokia mobile phone and a handbag.

Uden was hauled in for questioning but said he didn’t recall the burglary, claiming his drink had been spiked, but admitted it was him on CCTV.

“He told (police) he had been under the influence of something, possibly Valium,” said Mr Galley.

Uden, of Royal Avenue, Scarborough, appeared for sentence on Friday after pleading guilty to burglary and three breaches of a restraining order which had been put in place to protect his ex-partner who had been subjected to violence.

He also admitted stealing £74 worth of goods from a Co-op store in October and breaching a suspended prison sentence which had been imposed in November for shoplifting.

The breaches of the restraining order occurred on separate days in November and December when Uden was seen in company with his ex-partner.

On December 15, while on court bail, he went to her home in the early hours of the morning while she was asleep and started banging on the door. She got out of bed and let him in.

Uden, who had “reddened eyes” and “appeared to be under the influence of something”, asked her for £3 for a taxi fare but then started becoming aggressive, said Mr Galley.

A struggle ensued during which the victim grabbed the door keys, cutting her hand in the process.

“He said he was going to murder her,” said Mr Galley.

She went back upstairs but about 10 minutes later she saw Uden climbing on top of a wheelie bin in her back yard.

She noticed two mobile phones were missing, along with her purse containing her bank card and £30 cash. Uden had taken £525 of items in total, including a Play Station controller.

Police arrested him again eight days later and he was finally remanded in custody.

Uden’s record included convictions for “lots” of thefts, witness intimidation, criminal damage and violence - including battery against his ex-partner and assaulting a police officer. He had been in and out of prison since 2012 for offences fuelled by drink and drugs.

Defence barrister Fiona Clancy said the former factory worker was “in the depths of drug addiction” during his latest spate of offending.

Jailing Uden for 23 months, judge Simon Hickey condemned the father-of-two for his “dreadful” record which included 31 convictions for 61 offences.

Uden will serve half of the sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.