A TEEN burglar was one of a pair that ransacked a Swindon home, making off with a safe and £5,000 cash and two sets of car keys worth £12,000.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court dressed in a Puma sweatshirt yesterday, Orion Mundy, 18, of Manor Crescent, Moredon, pleaded guilty to a charge of burgling a house on Grosvenor Road, off Kingshill, on February.

But magistrates told the teen the offence was so serious the case would need to be sent to the crown court for sentence.

Prosecuting, James Burnham said Mundy and two other defendants had taken tools from the householder’s own garage to remove a cash safe from the house. The home was said to have been ransacked.

Police were alerted after a neighbour heard a loud bang and saw Mundy and the others about to enter the property’s garage. Officers later caught Mundy after a short chase.

Mundy had a youth court conviction for burglary, Mr Burnham said: "If he was stupid enough to do it again, the minimum sentence the court could impose then would be three years."

Defending, Mark Glendenning, suggested his client had been “dragged along” by a more experienced co-defendant.

The stolen items had been recovered, magistrates were told.

JPs bailed Mundy to appear at the crown court on April 25. They ordered a pre-sentence report be written by the probation service.