A burglar broke into a priest's flat at a church in the middle of night – though police did not need divine intervention to find him.
Christian Allen left his jacket, keys, and mobile phone at the scene of the crime and had to get a housemate to let him in when got back home.
Swansea Crown Court heard Allen has a history of breaking into houses but cannot remember this latest break-in because of the amount of Valium he had consumed.
Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said the priest of St David's Priory in Swansea city centre was woken in the early hours of April 29 this year by loud noises coming from the his flat which forms part of the church complex.
The clergyman went to investigate and saw lights had been turned on in a number of rooms. A closer inspection revealed food was missing from the kitchen, garage keys had been taken, there had been an attempt to remove the TV, and £100 in cash was gone from the vestry.
Police found a mobile phone and set of house keys at the priory along with a jacket which the priest confirmed was not his.
Mr Scapens said it appeared entry had been gained to the flat by smashing a window next to the front door with the intruder reaching through to release the lock.
The recovered phone was registered to 26-year-old Allen and he was arrested the following day.
The court heard a fellow resident of the house of multiple occupation where the defendant lived recalled how Allen had gone out on the night in question then couldn't get back in because he'd lost his keys.
Allen, of North Hill Road, North Hill, Swansea, pleaded guilty to burglary when he appeared in the dock via videolink from Swansea Prison on Tuesday.
The court heard he has 17 previous convictions for 29 offences including five house burglaries. He has already received minimum three-year sentences as a third-strike burglar on two occasions.
At the time of the latest break-in he was subject to a 12-month community order with a drug rehabilitation requirement imposed in January this year for offences of shoplifting.
Stuart John, for Allen, said the only meaningful mitigation he could put forward on his client's behalf was his early guilty plea and the defendant had "little or no recollection" of the events of the night in question because of the amount of Valium he had consumed.
The advocate said Allen had had an "ingrained heroin addiction for most of his adolescence and adulthood" but had been making progress on January's court order before the coronavirus lockdown meant he could no longer access the help he needed. He said Allen wanted to continue to tackle his drug addiction going forward.
Judge Catherine Richards told Allen he had chosen to go out that night and burgle someone's home while they slept in their bed.
She said she accepted he was in the grip of an addiction but that "does not give you the right to inflict pain and suffering on others" and the excuse of being an addict "begins to wear a bit then" with his advancing years.
Allen was jailed for 876 days and will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence. The judge wished him well with his "endeavour to live a positive life".
