A 'PROFESSIONAL burglar' who raided a string of hotels, including one room where the occupant was in the shower, has been jailed for two years and three months.

Lee Dommett, 32, who has scores of previous convictions for burglary, said his latest spree was to get cash to fund his addiction to legal high called spice.

Dommett and a neighbour went on a drug fuelled road trip two weeks after he had raided the staff room at a dental surgery.

Mark Ashley, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Dommett first took a handbag belonging to a worker at the dentist in Market Place, Cirencester, on Monday, July 13.

He said two weeks later Dommett and pal Dominic Chandler, 26, targeted a series of hotels in an afternoon of crime on Monday, July 27.

The first incident took place at about 2pm at the Highworth Hotel when a member of staff had a purse and memory stick taken from a private room.

A couple of hours later they were seen on CCTV at The Corinium Hotel in Cirencester where they stole a guest's mobile phone.

At about 7pm they were spotted in The Bull at Fairford where it was found they had been trying doors of empty rooms, using a screwdriver to try and jemmy them open.

The final raid took place at the Mercure Hotel in South Marston where they went into a room while the occupant was in the shower, taking a wallet and cigarettes.

He said they were tracked down after Dommett's Fiat Punto was spotted on CCTV and tracked between raids by automatic number plate recognition cameras.

When police went to arrest the men the following day they found much of the stolen property in Chandler's house.

Dommett, of Ramsbury Avenue, Penhill, admitted five burglaries and Chandler, also of Ramsbury Avenue, pleaded guilty to four.

Dommett also asked for another two matters, a burglary and handling stolen goods, to be taken into consideration.

The court heard that while Chandler had no previous convictions Dommett had a long list of offending.

He had more than 100 matters of burglary on his record as either convictions or matters taken into consideration when he was sentenced.

And in 2009 he was described by a magistrates as a 'professional burglar' when he appeared before them.

Richard Williams, for Dommett, told the court that his client accepted he was facing a jail term for what he had done.

He said: "The root cause for this offending is his addiction to 'spice'. It is a legal high available from shops but it can have a dramatic affect on the users."

When he is released he said he hoped to return to his work as a painter and decorator.

Tony Bignall, for Chandler, said his client could not recall the day of crime because he was high on spice at the time.

Although he had a job as a chef in an Old Town eatery in the past he had not worked for five years because of his alcohol problem.

The court heard he is currently receiving benefits in the form of employment and support allowance and personal independence payments.

Passing sentence Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "You went out on a spree having planned to steal what ever you could come across that was easy to steal.

"Eventually you stole from a hotel room where somebody was staying and was present at the time. You, in addition, Lee Dommett, also committed other offences."

He jailed Dommett for 27 months and imposed a 16-month jail term suspended for two years on Chandler and put him on alcohol treatment and a six-month curfew.

The judge also ordered that the car used to ferry the men between the raids be destroyed.