A MAN with 41 criminal convictions who said he “did not like committing burglaries” was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for burgling a house.

Alex Walker, 33, of no fixed address, admitted stealing a MacBook and jewellery and a bike from a house in Bartlemas Road, East Oxford, on October 24.

He appeared via video link from Bullingdon Prison at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday to enter his plea and be sentenced by Judge Zoe Smith.

Prosecutor Naomi Perry said the owner of the house had gone on holiday on October 19.

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When she returned on October 26, the front door was locked but a side window had been smashed.

She found her MacBook computer, jewellery and her racing bike, worth a total of just less than £4,000, were gone.

A forensic examination of the house found a blood smear on the wall with DNA matching Walker’s, Miss Perry said.

When arrested, he refused to answer police questions, the prosecution added.

When officers asked why foot prints found in the house matched his shoes Walker told them he sometimes loaned his shoes to friends, Miss Perry said.

He admitted the burglary to police, but said the side window was already broken when he arrived at the house.

Defence barrister Lucy Tapper said her client was trying to overcome drug problems and wanted to be honest with police.

At the hearing, Walker also asked for four similar offences to be taken into account, all in Oxford last year, in which jewellery and laptops were stolen.

Miss Perry told the court: “He said he didn’t like doing burglaries and felt bad about doing them.”

Miss Perry said he had a criminal record going back to 1994, including shoplifting and burglaries.

Judge Smith told him: “You are a prolific burglar.”

Reminding him that he had 41 previous convictions for various offences, she sentenced him to three years and six months in prison and ordered him to pay a £120 victims’ surcharge.