A burglar was caught red handed after one of his victims used an app to track his stolen phone and led police to his door, a court has been told.
James Mitchell had only been out of jail for two weeks after a previous burglary when he targeted a family home in October, Devon Live reports.
He managed to get away with two mobile phones, an Amazon tablet, a handbag and its contents, a wallet, and a school bag and its contents.
But the quick-thinking victim used his Find my iPhone app to locate Mitchell, who was so intoxicated on Valium he could not recall what he had done.
Police found him at a city hotel with some of the valuables he had stolen from the family home, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
He was also caught with a computer tower he had had stolen from the University of Plymouth, and later admitted breaking into two cars.
Mitchell has 12 previous convictions for burgling homes.
Sending him back to prison for almost two and a half years, a judge said that a neighbour's camera had shown Mitchell "snooping around" homes in Plymstock.
Judge David Evans added: "Less than two weeks after you were released on licence, you committed this burglary, with two children under ten in the house. You stole items belonging to one of them.
"It is clear from the victim statement that the family felt unable to stay in their own home and they booked into a hotel for the following night."
Mitchell, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to burglary of the home in Killerton Lane between October 21 and October 24.
He asked for three other offences to be taken into consideration over the same period - the burglary of the university building and theft of cash and a digital camera from two cars.
Judge Evans jailed him for 876 days, which is the statutory three-year term for a three-strike domestic burglar minus the maximum 20 per cent discount.
