A JUDGE has blasted a Boxing Day burglar who struck twice in Urmston.

But Jason Mark Harris, 49, was spared a jail sentence because of health worries. He broke into garages in Coll Drive and Skye Road, on December 26, 2018, and a car.

Claire Brocklebank, prosecuting, said the first break-in took place on Skye Road.

She added: "The victim Nicholas Frost was away from Christmas Eve and came back on Boxing Day to find the padlock had been smashed and bottles of wine, a mountain bike, rucksack, and a hammer and screwdriver were taken with a value of £200.

“The second one was in Coll Drive between 6am and 7am on Boxing Day where a garage was broken into and 10 bottles of wine were taken, a bottle of Baileys and tools, frozen food and then a wheelbarrow.”

Five pairs of sunglasses and a sat-nav were taken from a car. Harris was caught pushing a wheelbarrow with some of the goods.

Harris, from Salford, admitted to two burglaries and one theft. He was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Judge Sophie McKone said: "You know that burgling somebody even if it is a garage is a mean thing to do to someone but to do it particularly at Christmas is really mean."

But the judge told him she accepted as he was on dialysis and awaiting a new kidney, prison was not justified.