Burglar rang 999 after getting trapped in house

Alcoholic burglar Stuart Taylor had to call 999 after cutting his arm breaking into a house and then not being able to break out.

Blackburn magistrates heard that 41-year-old Taylor bled so profusely inside the house he caused more than £7,500-worth of damage to carpets and furniture.

And the house owner, on holiday at the time, said that when she returned two days later her home smelled like an abattoir.

Mr Neil White, prosecuting, said: said: "He had cut himself smashing a double glazed window and then couldn't get out," said Mr White. "When the police got to him he pointed to an open bottle of champagne and asked if he could finish it off before he went."

Taylor, of Edisford Road, Clitheroe, admitted burglary at a house in Chatburn Road and theft of a bottle of champagne, a bottle of gin and a cheque book. He was committed on bail to Preston Crown Court for sentence.