Repentant burglar rings police during social club raid - but was told they were too busy to arrest him

Liam Tomlinson, 21, a heroin addict who had eight previous convictions for break-ins, was allowed to continue his crime spree.

He burgled two other places before finally being hauled before court.

Scroll down for more...

Got a good kicking: Rossendale UFC's clubhouse was the first place to be raided by Tomlinson who then repented and begged police to arrest him

Magistrates in Burnley, Lancashire were told that Tomlinson, a former soldier, broke into the clubhouse of Rossendale United FC in the early hours of December 8.

He stole three bottles of spirits, worth £45, before ringing police who told him there was no patrol car available. Two hours later Tomlinson raided the nearby Waterfoot Conservative Club, smashing windows and a lavatory causing £2,500 damage.

Although he was arrested and faced court, he was given bail.

Twelve days later Tomlinson, who was thrown out of the Army for drug abuse, stole food and £350 worth of goods from the staff room of a school in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

David Leach, defending, said Tomlinson's drug habit had been "out of control" when he committed the robberies but he had since been into rehab and was now off heroin.

Scroll down for more...

Next port of call: Waterfoot Conservative club in Rossendale Lancashire where Tomlinson wreaked his second bout of havoc causing £2,500 damage

It was a cry for help when he rang police after breaking into the football club and told them he wanted to be arrested. He was informed that there was no patrol cars available to attend and started using offensive language and being abusive to the operator.

Tomlinson, from Padiham, near Burnley, admitted three counts of burglary. Magistrates gave him an eight-month suspended jail sentence, made a two-year supervision order, with a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement, and told him he must observe a curfew between 7pm and 6am for three months.

After the court case Inspector Dave Hodson, of Lancashire Police, claimed that officers had in fact gone to the football club almost immediately but Tomlinson had fled.

Almost two hours later a call was received from another man - believed to be Tomlinson's accomplice - in an "extremely drunken state", telling officers that the pair would be at the Conservative club in five minutes, waiting to be arrested.

By this time, police were dealing with a violent incident in which the victim had suffered serious injuries, and could not attend.

Instead, the pair were arrested half an hour later after neighbours reported the breakin at the Conservative club.

However, Mr Hodson pledged to investigate the case. "We will be looking further into this incident to see if there is anything we can learn from it."