A teenage burglar who raided the home of a 91-year-old dementia sufferer as she slept has been spared jail after a judge heard he had a job as a window cleaner.

Louis Watkins was told in January that if he stayed out of trouble for five months and got employment he could have his sentence suspended.

Now after hearing the 19-year-old had not been arrested since last appearing before him and had the part time work Judge Jason Taylor QC kept his word.

Watkins was in a gang who broke into the widow’s bungalow stealing cash and the keys to her car, which he crashed before it was sold for scrap.

The break-in took place at her home on Beverstone Grove, Lawn on the night of Friday August 10 into the following morning last year.

The pensioner, who suffers mild Alzheimer's, had left a kitchen window ajar to allow air to flow through the property during the hot summer night.

When she woke at about 7am on the Saturday morning she noticed a chair pushed up outside the house.

Her handbag containing about £30 had been taken from the kitchen table, the car keys were also gone and her Honda Jazz was no longer on the drive.

Drawers and cupboards in her bedroom had been opened but because of her condition her daughter had not pressed her as to whether she had done that.

The car was also taken and crashed into a wall before eventually being passed on to someone who scrapped it.

Watkins, of Shaftesbury Avenue, was tracked down after police found his fingerprints inside the bungalow.

He pleaded guilty to burglary, aggravated taking without consent and two counts of criminal damage when he tried to break into parked cars.

The court was he deeply regretted what he had done after a night drinking with friends and was still an immature, naive, man.

Emma Handslip, defending, said that he now had part time work as a window cleaner taking home £90 to £100 a week.

He also receives about £200 a month Universal Credit, paying £100 a month to his mum for rent.

Passing sentence the judge said “I gave you an opportunity on the last occasion and you have taken it. I am going to be true to my word. This was an unusual case.

“Suffice to say your personal circumstances, your young age, the fact that there was no suggestion that you had targeted these premises in the principal offence and the fact you have no previous convictions and are supported by your family allowed me to say there was strong personal mitigation and a chance of rehabilitation.”

He imposed a two year jail term suspended for 18 months with 300 hours of unpaid work and 24 hours at an attendance centre.

Watkins must also pay £500 costs and is banned from driving for a year.