A burglar who broke into a house twice in the same night was finally caught by the pensioners living there, a judge heard on Tuesday.

Ricky Mathias, aged 29, was traced by the jumper and mobile telephone that David and Elizabeth Davies took from him during a struggle.

Mathias, of Castle High, Haverfordwest, admitted burglary at Swansea Crown Court and was jailed for 27 months.

Sean Devine, prosecuting, told how Mr Davies was woken in the early hours of March 22nd by the telephone at his Llandysul bungalow.

A check using the 1471 system showed the caller had dialled from Mr Davies' mobile.

Mr Devine said Mr Davies assumed he must have lost the mobile.

Unknown to him, Mathias had already broken into their home and stolen £450 in cash, two mobile telephones, credit cards and cheques.

The purpose of the call, he said, was to see if anyone was at the bungalow.

A short while later Mr Davies became aware of an outside security light being activated and went to investigate.

Mathias emerged from one of the rooms and a struggle developed. Mrs Davies joined in and the couple managed to pull off Mathias' jumper, and get hold of a mobile he wore on a chain around his neck.

Mr Devine said police officers traced Mathias and he handed himself in to Cardigan police station.

The court heard he had 117 previous convictions, mostly for dishonesty.

His barrister Dyfed Thomas said Mathias had little recollection of the night because of tablets he had taken. Judge John Diehl said at that time of night Mathias must have realised there would have been someone at home.

He said Mrs Davies had made a victim impact statement in which she described the experience as the most frightening of her life.

Before being led to the cells Mathias told the court he was sorry for "turning the lives of two innocent people upside down".