A SERIAL burglar who used a credit card stolen in a break-in in order to buy fast food has been jailed for three years.

Joshua Leese broke into a house in Latchford, taking hundreds of pounds worth of electrical goods and a credit card that was then used to buy McDonald’s food.

On Tuesday, February 6, he and co-defendant James Lee were jailed at Chester Crown Court for their offending.

Leese, from Padgate, smashed a kitchen window to gain entry to the property on Sunday, October 22, while the homeowner was away for the weekend.

The 21-year-old, of Vulcan Close, took a number of electrical items worth a total of £650 from the house - including an Xbox, a tablet computer, two laptops, CDs and DVDs.

A credit card also stolen in the break-in was used at a McDonalds restaurant the same day, with two transactions totalling around £30.

Both Leese and Lee, 21, were present in the fast food outlet, while a third defendant - 23-year-old Elliot Jones-Locke, of Winmarleigh Street in the town centre - used the stolen card.

Jones-Locke, who has no previous convictions, admitted fraud and was allowed to walk free from court after being given a conditional discharge by judge Nicholas Woodward.

Lee, of St Katherine’s Way in Howley, admitted fraud and breaching a suspended 12-week jail sentence.

Judge Woodward activated this sentence in full and added an another week to his jail term.

He will be released within weeks as he has spent time on remand for the offence since the beginning of November.

Leese admitted burglary - his ‘third strike’ - and fraud, and was handed a three-year jail term reduced to 876 days for his guilty plea.

Sentencing, judge Woodward said: “This is a third strike burglary because of your previous convictions, and that means you must receive a minimum sentence of three years imprisonment - less 20 per cent credit for your guilty plea.”