A BOY has admitted burgling people’s homes after he was found hiding next to a bed in a stranger’s home.

The 14-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, raided homes in Burlington Street, Whitehawk Road and Henley Avenue in Brighton.

He was caught after a call to police at 3.30am on Saturday in Henley Avenue, and was found in possession of bank cards, a phone and an iPad belonging to the victim he had stolen from.

Police also found him in possession of a knife and a screwdriver.

The teenager admitted three counts of burglary when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Evidence also linked him to a separate attempted burglary in Whitehawk Road, police said.

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Detective Inspector Ian Still said: “While we have been able to return a lot of the property stolen during these burglaries, this doesn’t take away from the distress experienced by the victims.

“We are grateful to each of them for the information they have provided to us, which helped us gather enough evidence to charge the boy and to secure the guilty pleas.

“We are pleased the boy is being held accountable for his unacceptable actions. We will not tolerate behaviour of this kind and will continue to respond to and investigate reports of burglary in our community.”

The raids took place on July 21, July 24 and July 25, police said.

The boy now faces sentencing before Worthing Youth Court after he was arrested and charged, and pleaded guilty to all offences.

He will next appear in court on August 10.