A TEENAGE burglar stole two French Bulldogs and £300 cash after he broke into a family home on Boxing Day.

Kailum Lever was just 17 when he took Ziggy and Kingston when targeting victims he knew in the Lansbury Park area of Caerphilly over Christmas 2019.

The young dogs were found by the relieved owners unharmed at a neighbour’s home just a few hours later, prosecutor Martha Smith-Higgins said.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Lever, now aged 19, had raided the complainants while they were away for the afternoon watching a football match.

The bungling burglar left his mobile phone and bank card at the crime scene and was soon arrested by the police.

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The £300 was not recovered.

Lever, of Oak Terrace, Llanbradach, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to burglary.

Miss Smith-Higgins said the defendant had eight previous convictions for 15 offences.

These included a non-dwelling burglary and public disorder.

Ed Mitchard, representing Lever, asked the court to take into account that nearly two years had passed since his client committed the offence.

He added how the defendant had “sorted out his misuse of Valium” and was capable of being rehabilitated.

The judge, Recorder Dyfed Llion Thomas, told Lever: “It was fortunate that the dogs were recovered.

“The only items missing was the £300.”

The defendant was jailed for four months, suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to complete 19 sessions of a thinking skills programme and has to pay a £122 victim surcharge.