A BURGLAR stole more than £50,000 worth of property in three raids, a York court has heard.

The man broke into three homes in the York area, stealing two top-of-the-range cars before being finally apprehended by police while trapped inside a post office he had broken into.

Paul Simon Newton, 31, of Wains Road, Dringhouses, York, pleaded guilty to six offences before York Crown Court yesterday.

Newton broke into a house in Askham Bryan over the bank holiday weekend of May 3 to 5. He stole a computer, mobile phone and coin collection, before taking the keys to a Volvo, worth an estimated £26,000.

Police later found the car burnt out, but none of the property was recovered.

A few days later, on May 9, Newton struck at homes in Bishopthorpe, stealing electrical goods and cash worth £4,800 from a home in Acaster Lane.

He then burgled a cottage on Chantry Lane, where he stole goods and a BMW car, escaping with a haul worth £20,000.

Newton was later stopped by police when driving the vehicle, with bank cards from the first home in his possession.

After being bailed by police he broke into Gale Lane Post Office, in Acomb, where he was apprehended by the police for criminal damage and intent to steal.

The crime spree had begun with the theft of a mobile phone from Tesco Supermarket.

Newton was sentenced to two years and one month for the spree, asking for nine other offences to be taken into consideration.

Judge Gavin Barr Young said: "These are very serious burglaries. The Volvo makes it exceed £50,000, and even if you give that a bit of leeway it is still an awful lot of money, even at half that amount.

"This is a form of burglary that is horribly common at the moment, breaking into houses then also taking the car that may belong to the family.

"After those crimes, he was bailed and yet the police still found him in the post office causing criminal damage."

He added: "This wasn't just a momentary temptation, this was a fully fledged spree."

Updated: 09:45 Saturday, July 19, 2003