A burglar who left his fingerprints on a window ledge after ransacking a Dagenham home has been jailed for four years.

Michael Bass, 29, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday, having previously denied the offence.

Police were alerted to a suspected burglary at a home in Lewis Way at 9.10pm on July 24 last year.

The owner of the property told police the following day that a burglary had taken place and goods worth £700 had been stolen.

Unemployed Bass was identified after his fingerprints were found on the kitchen window ledge, showing where he had climbed inside.

He was arrested on August 17 by officers on a routine patrol in Essex.

During interview, Bass told police he was squatting at the address, explaining why his fingerprints were found.

Det Const Anwar Hussain, of Barking and Dagenham’s Serious Acquisitive Crime Unit, said: “Bass is now behind bars. I hope the sentence brings comfort to the victim and reassures the wider community that Barking and Dagenham police take burglary seriously.”