AFTER breaking into a Suffolk toy shop, a burglar thought he had made a clean getaway and evaded police.

But what the hapless raider failed to realise was that he had left a trail of footprints in the fresh snow – leading officers directly from the crime scene to the address where he was staying.

Kane Burton, 20, of Willowcroft Road, Ipswich, is now behind bars after admitting the burglary at Osborn and William in Hadleigh High Street on January 14.

Burton and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named but who also admitted burglary, were arrested just minutes after raiding the store - after being tracked around 200 yards from the crime scene.

At the time of the incident, Burton was on release from prison ‘on licence’ after being sentenced to two years for breaking the leg of a 10-week old baby.

West Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Bury St Edmunds was told that police had been called to the Hadleigh shop after a member of the public heard the sound of breaking glass.

Rosalind Cappleman, prosecuting, said when officers arrived, footprints in fresh snow led them to the Old School House on Market Place, Hadleigh, where Burton was living at the time.

She said that police were let into the property by a man who said he had seen Burton and the teenager and that they had told him they had committed a burglary.

Miss Cappleman said that Burton was found in an “agitated way”, was wet and had blood on his hand. The 17-year-old, who will be sentenced at Ipswich Youth Court, was said to be holding a set of small digital scales that had been taken from the shop.

The court was told the raid had caused hundreds of pounds of damage and that toys and books had been taken from the shop, along with the scales which were used for weighing sweets.

Jeremy Kendall, mitigating, said that although Burton had 23 convictions for 33 offences, he had no previous record for burglary.

Mr Kendall added: “He wants to change and I ask the court to give him that opportunity.”

Sentencing Burton, District Judge Celia Dawson said: “You have failed to respond to community orders over the past few years which is another factor that means custody is the only option.”

Burton was told he would be returned to custody until the completion of his original sentence and then start a fresh 16-week sentence from mid February.

The 17-year-old will be sentenced on February 7.