A STUDENT’S work was lost when a drug abuser saw that he had left a window open at his digs and stole his laptop computer and tablet, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Peter Grant had been seen acting suspiciously near the digs in Westridge Road but in clambering into the groundfloor room, he left a fingerprint on the inside of the window frame.

Grant then walked off with a rucksack, containing the computer and tablet, neither of which have been recovered, said prosecutor Gavin Sumpter.

Grant, 32, of no fixed address, admitted burglary and received a six-month suspended sentence with a twoyear community order incorporating a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Passing sentence, Recorder Michael Parroy QC, who read a letter of apology Grant had written to his victim Rhys Owens, told him: “The actual monetary value is nothing compared to the information on it which represented many years of work. No doubt you sold it for a pittance so you could get more drugs.”

He then added: “The future is in your hands. Take advantage of this chance.”