A PROLIFIC burglar who was found sitting in a victim’s living room after breaking in has been jailed for four years and two months.

Oliver Reed, who was on early release from prison for a similar matter, had smashed his way into a flat in Bath Road where he stole two watches worth hundreds of pounds.

And when the victim returned and found the intruder sitting on the sofa, the 39-year-old simply got up and pushed past the victim and drove away.

But the householder and a neighbour noted the car’s registration and reported what had happened to the police.

When officers went to arrest Reed they found he had a cannabis factory in one of the bedrooms at his flat.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court the offence took place on December 21 last year.

She said a neighbour in the Old Town building heard noises in the communal area around lunchtime and saw a man who asked him if ‘Asif’ lived there.

Soon after the victim returned and found his front door splintered.

“He entered his flat and found at about 1.30pm and found a man sitting on a sofa in the living room,” she said.

The intruder said: ‘I heard kids, I heard kids,’ as he pushed past the two men and went outside to a car before driving away.

When police went to his home they found an extensive cannabis growing factory with a large black tent with lighting and ventilation for the plants.

Officers found 49 plants about 5ft tall and in bud, 22 medium sized, 26 small and 105 seedlings as well as about a kilogram of cannabis leaf from the freezer.

He told the police he had been threatened by some Russians who came down with guns as he owed money for drugs.

Reed, of Cassini Drive, Redhouse, admitted burglary, cultivating cannabis and driving without insurance.

The court heard he had 150 previous convictions and had been sentenced as a three strike burglar on a number of previous occasions.

Rob Ross, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis that he had wanted to be taken into custody for his own safety. He said Reed had received a letter from the police indicating they had intelligence his life was threatened.

Jailing him, Judge Douglas Field said: “You are 39 I think, and you have a bad record and I think this is the fourth occasion you have to be sentenced for dwelling house burglary since February 2004.”