Jailed: The Goldilocks burglar who decided a child's bed was 'just right' for a nap

There was no porridge on the table and he didn't manage to break any chairs.

But otherwise, burglar Tommy Gill was a perfect Goldilocks.

After breaking into a house while the family were away, the 27-year-old raider was found slumbering in one of the children's beds surrounded by his hoard of stolen goods.

Yesterday, he was jailed for two years at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Judge Ian Pearson heard that Gill had ransacked the house, in Fratton, where a mother lived with her 12-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter.

He picked up a rucksack and put a new Xbox console and games into it.

Gill, of North End, Portsmouth, also raided the boy's money box, which contained £120 he had saved up for his holiday.

He stuffed the cash down his trousers, went upstairs and promptly fell asleep.

When the family arrived home at around 11pm on July 27, they found Gill in one of the bedrooms.

He was still asleep when police arrived, and they had to struggle to wake him up.

The 33-year-old single-mum said: 'When we got home I sensed something was not right.

'My daughter pointed out the light was on and that was a bit strange.

'I sent the kids into the kitchen to get their milk and cookies before bedtime and my daughter noticed glass on the floor. Then I saw the back door was smashed in.

'I rushed the children across the road to my mum's house and came back a few minutes later with some of the family and then went straight upstairs.

Feeling a little sleepy, Gill took the Goldilocks approach and had his choice of three beds

'I didn't spot him the first time. I looked in my son's bedroom and saw the Xbox on the bed.

'Then I looked to the side of the bed where there was a mattress and saw the head of this figure.

'I couldn't believe it. I ran down the stairs saying "he's still here, he's still here". I couldn't believe he was still in my house.

'I thought he must have knocked himself out by banging his head on the beams or something like that.

'It was a huge relief when the police arrived a few minutes later - but I think it took them a while to wake him up.'

In an interview he said he was deeply sorry for what he had done and told officers he had taken 15 Valium tablets on the night.

He admitted the burglary, plus another a month earlier when he took a TV from a university building.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Pearson said: 'You have an appalling record of offending.

'You have been a prolific offender in the Portsmouth area and represent a high risk of re-offending.

'I am going to give the citizens of Portsmouth some respite from your dishonesty.

'In the case of the burglary the young mother and children must have been terrified to find you in their home when they returned.'

PC Chris Dinenage, from Hampshire police, said: 'The idiocy of the offender led to his own downfall.'