A GANG of burglars who burst into a man's home late at night armed with part of a snooker cue have been jailed for three years.

The three men broke into the home of a Norton man and made off with a collection of samurai swords, a BB gun and several mobile phones before leaving the property.

Chris Smith, prosecuting, told the court how the terrified victim, Mark Davidson, managed to lock himself in his bathroom where he called the police on his mobile phone.

The police caught up with the gang nearby as they attempted to handle their loot.

Judge Stephen Ashurst, told the burglars: "It simply cannot be tolerated that people like you who turn up in a residential area in the middle of the night sorting out your disputes with people, using a weapon and breaking into their houses.

"This is the sort of behaviour that offends people and makes them very uncomfortable about what is going on in their neighbourhood."

Paul Brown, 26, of no fixed address, but formerly of Cranfield Place, Foxwood, and Bell Farm Avenue, York; Patrick Stephen Ryder Hall, 22, now of no fixed address and formerly of Didsbury Close, York; and Monty Tunney, 19, of Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick, all admitted aggravated burglary and were each jailed for three years.

James Foster-Francis, 23, of Nunthorpe Road, York, pleaded guilty to handling some of the stolen items and was ordered to do 100 hours' unpaid work.

Mr Smith said members of the gang kicked in Mr Davidson's door in Norton on July 18.

But the public CCTV system had caught their arrival in a Nissan car driven by Tunney. Police tracked them to a secluded car park and also spotted where they had tried to hide some of the loot.

For Brown, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for a hammer burglary and other offences in Foxwood in 2003, Taryn Turner said he was reducing his offences and could be a hard-working man.

For Tunny, who has a previous conviction for providing a false murder alibi, Gurdal Singh said he was awaiting an operation to have an eye removed.

He did not enter Mr Davidson's flat.

For Ryder Hall, Nicholas Johnson said he got involved because he had been drinking.

For Foster-Francis, Jim Withyman said he only held the stolen property for 30 seconds.