A BURGLAR has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after he was convicted of his fourth burglary in eight years.

Aaron Nelson, 24, of Wye Court, Thornhill, Cwmbran, was sentenced at Newport Crown Court after he admitted stealing a handbag containing between £80 and £90 in cash from a Cwmbran house during March this year.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary, but he was subject to rules that means judges have to impose a minimum of sentence of three years on offenders who commit three burglaries.

The court heard his victim Diane Flowers, of Cwmbran, said the incident left her feeling vulnerable and frightened.

Prosecutor David Wooler told the court that Ms Flowers had woke up one morning to find her handbag and its contents were missing from her home.

The court heard that Nelson had entered the house through an open window. Fingerprints taken from inside a lounge window matched the defendant who was later arrested in July, the court heard.

In a victim statement read by Mr Wooler, Ms Flowers said that the incident left her feeling frightened and vulnerable and has since invested in a security light.

Nelson committed burglaries on three previous occasions, including in 2005, in October 2011 and June 2012, Mr Wooler said.

Ben Waters, for the defence, said Nelson had been at a house party and had been consuming alcohol and drugs on the evening of the incident.

"On the way home he saw an open window and he took the foolish decision to go through it,” he said.

Mr Waters said that Nelson had not intruded into the victim’s bedroom and it wasn’t the case that the defendant was aware that anyone was home.

Nelson had pleaded guilty on the first available opportunity, Mr Waters said, and would like to make reparations to the victim.

Recorder Robert Britton, sentencing, said the minimum sentence he could impose was one of three years.

He sentenced Nelson to three and a half years in prison.