Kevin Leeburn climbed through an upstairs window of the elderly couple's home in Derwent Drive, Oakham, while they sat downstairs.

A neighbour called police after spotting him, but when Leeburn was arrested in nearby Station Road, he claimed: "I ain't done nothing."

A court heard that by committing the burglary on September 3 this year he breached a suspended jail sentence imposed a month earlier.

On August 19 he was handed a seven-month term, suspended for two years, for theft, making false representations and breaching an ASBO.

Stuart Hamblin, prosecuting, told Leicester Crown Court that Leeburn's shocked grandparents were 'particularly upset' by the burglary.

They had cared for him as a youngster at times when his mother felt unable to cope and had also given him money on several occasions.

Jonathan Cox, defending, said Leeburn, who has previous convictions for burglary and dishonesty offences, was 'remorseful and embarrassed'.

He told the court nothing was taken during the raid but added: "He acknowledges that his grandparents have been a rock in his life.

"He has an alarming history born out of his dependency on drugs and alcohol. He will hopefully address those problems in prison."

Passing sentence, Recorder Alan Parker told Leeburn, 27, of Robin Crescent, Melton: "It is right that you are thoroughly ashamed. You ought to be, because your grandparents have been as devoted to you as any could be.

"You utterly betrayed their trust, and the sorrow you have caused has only been worsened by the utter disrespect this act demonstrates.

"I am impressed that you have detoxed and are now drug-free, and hopefully this sentence will allow you to see the end of the tunnel."

Leeburn was jailed for 12 months for the raid and told to serve another seven months consecutively from the suspended sentence he breached.