A burglar went on a spending spree hours after stealing bank cards.

By the time the owner reported them stolen he had squandered more than £150 at her expense.

Now Christopher Flippence has been jailed for five years for this and other offences.

Flippence broke into the house in Durban Crescent, Dover, last July 11 and used the cards in half a dozen local shops, buying cigarettes, alcohol and other items.

The victim of the burglary reported her cards, along with cash and perfume, stolen to Kent Police and cancelled the cards at her bank.

But Flippence had already splashed out at several newsagents.

CCTV enquiries led officers to him and they searched his house.

Various stolen items were recovered including a bicycle, satellite navigation system and the handbag he took from the victim at Durban Crescent.

Officers also seized a taser torch, which they found in the pocket of his jacket.

The bicycle had been stolen from a motorhome in Marine Parade, Dover, between Saturday, July 15 and Monday, July 17 and officers returned the bike to the owner.

The sat nav had been stolen from a car in Astley Avenue, Dover, on July 17 and was also returned to the victim.

Flippence also left his fingerprints at the scene of another burglary in Lower Road, River, on Sunday, March 19 last year.

Flippence, 38, of Napier Road, Dover, admitted to the numerous burglary charges, possession of a tazer torch, fraud and handling stolen goods.

He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday, December 22.
.