A pair of cocaine-addicted burglars used stolen contactless bank cards - just below the £30 limit - to buy cigarettes and alcohol at a petrol station minutes after breaking into people's Chorlton and Fallowfield homes while they slept.
Matthew Brookes and Damian Morrison, branded a 'menace' to people in south Manchester, thought it was a foolproof plan.
But it led to their downfall.
CCTV images from the Shell petrol station on Barlow Moor Road helped catch them.
Brookes, 32, and Morrison, 36, have been jailed following the 'determined campaign' of burgalries.
Brookes pleaded guilty to nine burglaries. Morrison admitted to five.
Manchester Crown Court heard the remorseless pair broke into homes - stealing cars and 'high value' items - while those inside slept. The spree started in January last year and ended the following October.
Laptops, games consoles, iPads and wallets were stolen. On occasion, the Brookes and Morrison loaded loot into a car on the drive before that was nicked too.
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Bank cards stolen during the break-ins were quickly taken to the Shell petrol station. The pair bought alcohol, cigarettes and other groceries, prosecutor Rachel White said.
They made purchases using the card's contactless feature, just below the £30 limit.
'You were a menace to householders in south Manchester'
The court heard that in January last year, a house on Egerton Road North in Chorlton was broken into.
Items including two laptops, cash, credit cards, house keys and car keys were taken.
A Volvo was taken from the drive, only to be recovered the following day; damaged with false number plates.
In February last year, a laptop, speakers, jewellery and ornaments were stolen from a house on Albany Road in Chorlton.
A laptop, bank cards, house keys, a purse and mobile phone was stolen during a break-in on Keppel Road while the occupants slept.
Residents at a house in High Lane, Chorlton, woke to find a laptop, speakers, a Berghaus coat, house keys and bank cards had been taken in August last year.
There were two burglaries on the same night in September last year, at a house on Chestnut Avenue in Chorlton, and then on High Lane.
At Chestnut Avenue, Brookes and Morrison loaded stolen items into a Ford Focus, which was then also stolen and driven away.
Following the burglary, one of the occupants, a university student, said she was too frightened to stay in the flat and had a panic attack.
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A five-year-old child slept upstairs at a property in High Lane as Brookes and Morrison stole cash, bank cards, an Apple Mac, car keys and a Playstation.
The Volvo parked on the drive was also stolen, and was found later that month in Chorlton with false number plates.
The resident said that when she was younger she had been seriously assaulted when someone broke into her house, and that this made her feel uncomfortable again.
A flat on Cranbourne Road in Chorlton was burgled in September last year, when 100 Euros, gloves, a wallet and bank cards and an Pad mini were stolen.
Later that month, an Audi was stolen from a house in Hardy Lane, Chorlton.
It was spotted by police the following day, shortly before Morrison abandoned it on Wilbraham Road.
Three laptops as well as a Playstation and camera were stolen from a house in Wilbraham Road as the occupiers slept.
Two final burglaries happened on September 28 in Fallowfield.
In the first, items including an Apple Mac and Apple Macbook were taken, then at a student house share on Evelyn Street bank cards and important university notes were stolen.
Defending Brookes, Isobel Thomas said her client had been long-standing user of cocaine since the age of 13.
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She said he was now drug free - and determined to remain so.
For Morrison, Max Saffman said the defendant was a 'thoughtful and caring young man' before cocaine habit became 'out of control'.
Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad QC said: "Dwelling house burglary is always a serious offence.
"People can feel their homes has been violated and can be deeply unsettled by the experience.
"You both constituted a menace to householders in the south Manchester area."
The judge told Brookes: "The fact that you had a serious drug addiction provides no comfort to your victims."
Judge Conrad said that Brookes and Morrison, both of HMP Forest Bank, displayed no remorse or empathy towards their victims as he jailed them for five years and three months each.
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