A burglar caught rummaging through a bag of Christmas presents has been jailed.

A resident in Havengore, Chelmsford, called police shortly after 10.05pm on December 16 last year after a man tried to get into his house through the front door and then tried to open the boot of his car.

When officers arrived, the victim showed them a video of the suspect running away.

He also gave them a jacket containing a multi-tool and a mobile phone, which he had found in his bin but were not his.

Officers carried out a search and at 10.50pm, saw the front door of a home in Cornflower Drive wide open and John Murton in the hallway searching through a bag of wrapped Christmas presents.

He was challenged and claimed he was looking for passports. The homeowner was in the house at the time but unaware the burglar had got in.

Murton, 38, was arrested and was charged with attempted burglary and theft from a motor vehicle in connection with the Havengore incidents and burglary at the Cornflower Drive home.

The mobile phone found in the bin in Havengore was found to contain selfie photographs of Murton.

He initially denied the charges and was due to stand trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on May 21. However he changed his pleas to guilty on the first day it was due to take place.

Murton, of Arne Court, Laindon, also admitted breaching a suspended sentence for burglary and breaching a suspended sentence for handling stolen goods.

He was jailed for a total of three years and eight months on the same day.