A homeless man who was found in the garden of an Ipswich town centre house has been given a suspended prison sentence after admitting vagrancy .

The owner of a house in Tuddenham Road contacted the police after seeing Rodney Castello in her rear garden on February 28 and suspected he was planning to break into her home, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Nicola May, prosecuting, said when the woman challenged him and asked him to leave Castello said he was looking for a friend.

Castello, 51, who is now living in Lattice Avenue, Ipswich, admitted vagrancy and possessing class B and C drugs and was given a four month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Steven Dyble, for Castello, said his client had been homeless and his intentions had been misunderstood by the woman who came home and found him in her garden. “He was looking for somewhere to sleep and clearly shouldn’t have been in the garden,” said Mr Dyble.