A BURGLAR who raided a house on Valentine’s Day and stole bank cards has been jailed.

Mark Hayter, 42, broke into the property in Mitten Road, Bexhill, on February 14 last year and took a laptop, purse containing bank cards, mobile phone and a wall mirror.

He then took a jukebox and alcohol from a summer house in the garden and started using the cards the next day.

Unemployed Hayter, of Sidley Green, Bexhill, was caught on CCTV using the cards in small shops, Subway and Sainsbury’s in the town. The victim had been receiving bank alerts and contacted police.

Forensic examinations on a hat found in the garden of the house matched the DNA of Hayter, and he was soon arrested at an address in Amherst Road, near the home he burgled. Police also found some of the items he had stolen there.

Hayter claimed he had no idea how he got the stolen bank cards and denied knowing about the stolen items.

He was jailed for 30 months at Lewes Crown Court on July 4 after a two-day trial.