A BURGLAR was snared almost three years after leaving his fingerprints at the scene of a crime.

David Acott has been remanded in custody facing sentence for a break-in committed almost three years ago.

The 26-year-old broke into a house in Pinehurst in June 2005 when the occupant had gone way for a few days.

Lynne Henderson, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that the householder had returned home on Friday, June 17 to find the patio doors open.

The resident of the house on Olive Grove also found cupboards had been gone through and police lifted fingerprints from the scene.

However, it took until last year for a match to be found and Acott was finally arrested for the offence.

When he was questioned by police in September he admitted breaking into the house, saying he was going through a hard time with heroin addiction.

Acott had been on bail at a hostel awaiting assessment for drug rehabilitation but was remanded in custody after breaching the rules of the establishment.

He has now been remanded in custody to Thursday, April 10 so the probation service can assess him for a drug rehabilitation requirement.

Giles Nelson, defending, said his client had family in Swindon but was unable to put forward an address for him to live at.

But Judge Charles Wade said he was not prepared to grant bail for the report to be compiled.

Acott said he was homeless and had been looking for somewhere to sleep and food to steal and had also opened post at the house.

Acott, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary.

The court heard he had a string of previous convictions, including a robbery in 1999 which led to his receiving a three-and-a-half-year jail term as well as a burglary in 2004.

Virginia Cornwall, defending, told the hearing that her client's story tallied with the householder's.

"He entered looking for somewhere to sleep and something to eat," she said.

She said he told police that curtains had been taken from the airing cupboard and laid on the floor as if to form a bed.