A MORETON man who burgled an 80-year-old man's home and also tried to raid a Cotswold hotel has been jailed for nine months.

Alan Bellew, aged 34, of Dunstall House flats, Stow Road, was the eldest of three burglars involved in the two offences, Gloucester crown court was told on April 9 .

One of the others, aged 17, has received a youth rehabilitation order and the other has not yet been sentenced.

Bellew pleaded guilty to burgling the home of Lawrence Hamilton, 80, in Redesdale Place, Moreton, on October 22 last year and stealing a laptop, leather jacket, Sony organiser and some cash.

He also admitted attempted burglary on the same morning of Manor House Hotel, Moreton.

Prosecutor Simon Goodman said Mr Hamilton came downstairs at 8am that morning to find he had been burgled and that his computer had gone. He rang and reported the raid the police.

An hour later, police received an anonymous call saying three people including Bellew had been involved in a burglary in which a laptop had been stolen.

Officers went to Bellew's home and carried out a search and found the laptop and organiser behind a sofa, Mr Goodman said.

Bellew and the 17-year-old were arrested and denied the burglary but gave different stories, he said.

Later, enquiries revealed that at 1.45am that morning CCTV at the hotel had captured Bellew and others trying the doors of storage buildings at the hotel to try to get in.

However, they were unsuccessful and nothing was taken.

Mr Goodman said Bellew has previous convictions but none since nine years ago when he was sentenced for three house burglaries in Devon.

Tim Greaves, defending, said Bellew had been suffering from depression, anxiety, low mood and agarophobia since he was 15 or 16.

He had been abusing cannabis for a long time and at the time of the offences he had been using a Class A drug, he said.

And he added was a 'vulnerable' person but he had been mixing with people who were not good for him and he should have known better.

He pointed out that although the victim of the house burglary was elderly there had been no confrontation between him and Bellew in the house and many of the stolen items were recovered and only about £20 cash was missing.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said there had to be an immediate jail term for domestic burglary and sentenced Bellew to nine months and ordered him to pay a £100 victim surcharge.