A PAIR of drug addicts who broke into a family home while two young children slept upstairs have each been jailed for two years and four months.

David Bentham, aged 41, and Karl Oliver, aged 23, broke into the home in Normandy Road in Walkden where the youngsters, aged three and six, were sleeping.

Police caught the pair on the driveway and discovered that Oliver, of Worsley Avenue, Little Hulton, was carrying a silver penknife and half a pair of scissors.

Peter Edmondson, prosecuting, said the occupant had forgotten to lock her door before going to bed at 1am on January 14 this year.

He said: "A neighbour saw the two defendants acting suspiciously, looking into cars and gardens."

Police arrived to find Bentham and Oliver, who were well known to them, on the driveway with the front door slightly ajar.

Bentham, also of Worsley Avenue, Little Hulton, was wearing suede gloves and carrying a packet of cigarettes he had stolen from the house.

Inside, officers also discovered a screwdriver with a yellow handle which the pair had left behind.

A victim statement was read to the court in which the house occupier described her distress.

She said: "This is the second time I have been broken into during the night in the space of a year.

"This has made me feel very frightened that someone could come into the house while myself and my children are asleep."

Oliver, who admitted burglary and carrying a blade, had 16 previous convictions for 26 offences including violent disorder, burglary, shoplifting and drug possession.

Bentham, who pleaded guilty to burglary and breaching a community order, had 48 previous convictions for 152 offences, including 11 burglaries.

Martin Pizzey, defending Bentham, said: "This was an opportunist offence and the property was not targeted.

"There was no damage and there was never any disturbance."

He said Bentham was a heroin addict and the seriousness of his situation was dawning on him.

Rebecca Hirst, defending Oliver, said he had struggled with his heroin addiction but since being behind bars had gone clean and had been given a job as a cleaner.

Both men were sentenced to two years and four months in prison.