A BURGLAR who broke into a flat at a hotel has been warned he faces a mandatory jail term under the three strikes rule.

Richard Lowe already has two separate convictions for dwelling house burglary among a long list of previous offences.

Now the 36-year-old faces the prospect of a minimum three year jail term with a 20 per cent discount for pleading guilty, unless a judge thinks it unjust.

Lowe, of Cranmore Avenue, Park South, pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court.

He stole an AppleMac laptop computer when he broke into a flat at The Grove Hotel on Drove Road on Monday April 21.

Martin Wiggins, defending, asked for the case to be adjourned so the probation service could compile a pre-sentence report.

Judge Tim Mousley QC agreed. He said: “You know very well that you have pleaded guilty to a serious offence which inevitably will lead to a custodial sentence.

“You also know that you qualify for a statutory minimum sentence so far as that is concerned.

“You will be sentenced on June 13 when a pre-sentence report will be before the court to decided what the appropriate sentence is. In the meantime you'll stay in custody."