A couple awakened by flickering lights and creaking sounds in their house were horrified to discover their home had been invaded by a man wearing clip-on goggles and a black latex glove.

Alfie Tipping, 19, from Knaresborough, was one of two burglars who broke into the victims’ home in Oakdale Glen, Harrogate.

When the male victim got out of bed to see if anyone was inside the house, he was met by “two males wearing dark clothes”, York Crown Court heard.

On seeing the householder, Tipping and his cohort fled from the house as the victim gave chase.

Prosecutor Rachael Landin said the man’s partner called police and then discovered that her purse - which contained items including cash, lip gloss and a trolley token – had been taken.

Police arrived about 10 minutes later and found Tipping on Ripon Way, about half a mile from the victims’ home, after conducting an area search. He was seen climbing over a fence which ran around the perimeter of Booker’s, the wholesale-business site.

Tipping, of Bardale Close in Knaresborough, was arrested and found with the stolen cash and trolley token, and his own cannabis. He also had a black latex glove and was wearing a black, hooded coat and black, clip-on goggles.

He was brought in for questioning and claimed the trolley token was his, which he used for shopping or to “access lockers at the gym”.

“He said the cash was his to pay his British Gas bill,” added Ms Landin.

Asked to explain the latex glove, he said he had it because he had a phobia of touching raw meat and had intended to use it to cook a meal the day after the burglary, which occurred at about 3.15am on June 1 last year.

He said he “regularly wore dark clothing at that time of year”, added Ms Landin.

Tipping was charged with burglary and possessing cannabis. He admitted possessing the Class B drug but denied the burglary.

He appeared for trial today (June 30) but pleaded guilty to the burglary at the eleventh hour.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, spared Tipping’s barrister the need for mitigation when he said he would be giving the teenager a prison sentence which would secure his immediate release from custody given the amount of time he had already spent on remand.

Tipping received an 11-month jail sentence for the burglary and one day’s prison concurrent for possessing cannabis. 

He was ordered to pay the female victim £20 compensation for the theft of the purse and contents.