A burglar caught in the street with a knife said he had accidentally put it in his bag when he got distracted as he made pasta for the family.

Zak Nicholson was on a community order for housebreaking when the weapon fell out after police chased him as he cycled away from them.

And when the teenager was questioned he said he had been chopping bacon for pasta carbonara and accidentally put it in his bag when he was distracted.

Blasting the 18-year-old's explanation Judge Robert Pawson said it was 'so unlikely I disregard it' and branded him 'a liar through and through'.

But he said as Nicholson, who also admitted another burglary, was at a crossroads in his life he would put off passing sentence until November.

If he does well on the order imposed a week before the knife offence, stays out of trouble and tries to save £1,000 for compensation, then he said he won't jail him.

Alistair Haggerty, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how Nicholson was put on an 18 month community order on March 28.

A week and day later he said police in a patrol car on Harding Street saw him on his bike and wanted to question him over a house burglary from a month before.

He cycled off but they managed to get the police car in front of hi, and when he fell the knife fell on to the pavement.

Mr Haggerty said on Wednesday March 7 the occupants of a property on Cheney Manor Road returned to find their home ransacked.

Although the only thing taken were £30 of vouchers for a comic book shop all the drawers and cupboards had been strewn on the floor and £1,000 of damage done.

Blood found in various spots inside the building matched the defendant who initially claimed he hadn't gone inside, saying he had been put up to it to settle a debt.

Nicholson, of East Street, pleaded guilty to burglary and possessing an article with a blade or point.

Andy Pearson, from the probation service, said since his earlier sentence the teenager had done about 25 of the 200 hours unpaid work and not missed any appointments.

He said the lad told him he didn't want to do the break in, ignoring jewellery in the house, and was scared of going to prison.

Judge Robert Pawson said he would defer passing sentence until Friday November 9 to give him a chance to prove himself.

He said "Mr Nicholson, from what I am seeing it seems to me that you are a liar through and through.

"The police interviewed you and you said: I am sorry I was involved in the burglary but I didn't go inside.

"The blood contains your DNA, it was inside upstairs and downstairs. You said you did do it but you didn't want to.

"What makes this burglary worse is that a 13-year-old child, utterly unsurprisingly, was terrified. Her family home had bee burgled before was absolutely terrified."