A DRUNKEN would-be thief tried to steal a woman’s Mercedes car from her drive as she phoned police, a court heard.

Robert Moore was trying to get into the vehicle using a key fob which had been taken from owner Anne Longden’s house, said Simon Barrett, prosecuting.

The court was told how, just before 9pm on April 14, Ms Longden looked out of the window of her home in Deepdale Road, Breightmet, and saw a man holding her keys.

She ran outside and chased him, but lost sight of him as he headed into a park.

Mr Barrett added that when she returned home she spotted another man, Moore, nearby.

She asked him if he knew anything about the burglary, but he became abusive.

As she went inside her home to phone police she saw the lights activate on her car. Going outside again she found Moore near the car, which had its boot open.

He was holding the key fob and trying to get into the vehicle.

When she demanded he hand over the keys he told her he had found them, then changed his story, claiming he had paid £30 for them. Moore, aged 31, of Walmersley Road, Bury, pleaded guilty to attempted theft.

Richard Dawson, defending, described Moore’s actions as “drunken stupidity”.

Moore, who appeared in court via a prison video link, was jailed for nine months by Judge Peter Davies.

Judge Davies told him: “You were on licence when you committed this offence and you have a quite dreadful record.”