A BURGLAR who broke into a luxury home and unsuccessfully tried to hotwire the owner’s Aston Martin sports car has been jailed.

Wayne Jackson, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court how the five-bedroomed secluded property in Rigby Lane, Bradshaw, was locked up by the owner, Antony Bennett at 2pm on February 8.

But at 11am the next day he received a call to say it had been broken into.

A garage window had been smashed and the Aston Martin parked inside had had its door opened and interior panel pulled out.

Mr Jackson said the rest of the property was ransacked.with all rooms searched.

He added: “Curiously, it seems to only drawer that wasn’t searched was the one that held the keys to the Aston Martin.”

CCTV at the property showed a BMW 1 series reversing into the drive through the electric gateway and men loading items valued at £900 into the boot of the vehicle, including a portable generator and a camera.

An Audi car parked on the drive also had a window smashed.

Police viewing the CCTV recognised one of the thieves as Richard Bentham, who was on licence from prison at the time and had a criminal record for burglary.

He was arrested four days later in Little Hulton after he was spotted driving a BMW car.

Bernadette Baxter, defending, said Bentham, aged 29, of Meadowside Avenue, Walkden, had committed the crime after resuming an addiction to cocaine and getting into debt through gambling.

The father-of-one pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal damage.

Ms Baxter said: “He is under no illusion he has placed himself in a very difficult position.”

Recorder Simon Killeen told Bentham: “You have committed, without a doubt, a very serious offence on this occasion.”

Bentham was sentenced to three years in jail and told he must pay a £120 victim surcharge ,