A burglar who was arrested after he was found waiting for a taxi outside an Ipswich flat he had just broken into has been given a suspended prison sentence.

The owner of the flat in Felixstowe Road arrived home to find 30-year-old Garry Brimble sitting by a gate next to an alleyway leading to his flat and heard him say to someone on his mobile phone: “I don’t know why the taxi is late.”

Having discovered smashed glass in his front door, the flat owner went outside and used his mobile phone to take photographs of Brimble, who was still in the area when the police arrived, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

When Brimble was searched he was found in possession of £200 cash and a mobile phone which had been stolen from the flat and other stolen items including a digital camera, a wallet, DVDs and some curtains were found in a bag leaning against a wall in the alleyway, said Philip Farr, prosecuting.

All the stolen property was recovered, said Mr Farr.

Brimble told police he saw the burglary taking place and was waiting at the premises for the owner to return so he could tell him what had happened.

Brimble, of Cardiff Avenue, Ipswich, admitted burglary on June 4 last year and was given an 11-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

He was also given a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Sentencing him, Judge John Devaux said: “Bizarrely you remained on the scene, probably because of the drink or drugs you’d consumed.”

Lynne Shirley, for Brimble, said her client had been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the burglary and had stayed at the scene until the police arrived.