A MASKED burglar was part of a gang who raided a flat while a woman and her son slept inside, stealing her TV and her car.

Trevor Green was one of three masked burglars to enter the Kidderminster home at night, making off with £1,200 worth of stolen goods and a Fiat 500.

The family only noticed they had been burgled the following morning even though at one stage the burglars must have been only a metre away from the woman's bed.

The mother's 14-year-old son woke up to discover their television was gone and his mum later discovered her car was gone as well as two handbags worth £500.

The 47-year-old of Worcester Road, Kidderminster, had already admitted burglary and theft when he was jailed by Robert Juckes QC at Worcester Crown Court on Friday.

The burglary took place at a groundfloor flat in Kidderminster overnight between June 20 and June 21 this year.

Rachel Pennington, prosecuting, said the woman was woken by her son at 7am on June 21.

He told her the £700 television set was missing from the lounge and she also realised her Fiat 500 and the £500 handbags were gone.

She discovered the kitchen window was open and the front door was unlocked, believing the burglars must have come in through the window before unlocking the door.

In a victim personal statement she said: "I feel awful. I suffer with anxiety anyway. I no longer feel safe in my home."

The court heard how, although she did not hear the burglars inside her flat, at one stage they would have been just a metre away from her.

Green was identified through a fingerprint he left on the window sill. CCTV also showed three males 'with faces covered, hoods up, entering the premises then leaving'. No mention was made of what became of the other two burglars at the hearing.

The woman's son no longer feels safe at home on his own and does not want to be left, ringing his mum for reassurance. The car was recovered by the police after the owner had paid the insurance excess.

The burglary is the first on Green's record but he was described by Miss Pennington as having a lengthy record of dishonesty offences.

Aggravating features identified by the prosecution include the fact that the occupiers were at home at the time and it was a group or gang activity in which the victims had been targeted.

Jason Aris, defending, said: "Most of his offending is quite antiquated. It's clearly the antecedence of someone who was struggling with a long-standing drug problem. Much of it is petty offending, stealing in order to fund his heroin addiction."

Mr Aris also said his client had been 'out of trouble for some eight years' and was a carer for his mother and father who had significant health problems.

Mr Aris said Green was 'embarrassed about falling back into crime' and was 'very remorseful'.

"This, I would submit, is a blip in this man's strenuous efforts to keep himself crime free and lead a law-abiding life," said Mr Aris.

Judge Robert Juckes QC said: "There was a 14-year-old child in the house. Had they woken up and been confronted by the three of you it is difficult to estimate what the effect on them would have been."

He said personal security was destroyed when a burglary of this sort took place.

However, he gave Green full credit for his early guilty plea and jailed him for 30 months.