A man who burgled his next-door neighbours was today behind bars, having avoided prison for the past four years.

Tony Hosnu, 32, was living in Ramuz Drive, Westcliff, when he broke into the homes of both his neighbours, two months apart.

He was arrested in 1996 and initially denied both burglaries before admitting one, but pleading not guilty to the other.

Hosnu's fingerprints were found on a plug socket of one home, where a video recorder had been removed, and on the window of the second house.

He failed to appear for his trial date in 1997 and was not arrested again until February this year.

When he next appeared at court he pleaded guilty to both counts of burglary.

His barrister told the judge at Southend Crown Court that Hosnu had been too scared to turn up as he knew he faced jail.

The court heard he has not been in trouble since moving to Harold Hill four years ago and was now the sole carer for his wife, who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, and his son who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Judge Frank Lockhart said: "It is true that the occupants were not in at the time of the burglaries but you were just exploiting their movements. These are two of the meanest burglaries you could think of."

Hosnu was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for each burglary, to run concurrently, with an additional three months to serve for skipping bail.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.