HE IS a prolific offender who has brought terror to his Hampshire neighbourhood.

His last offence - carried out while the subject of a strict supervision order for a previous crime - was to break into a family home at night and steal property worth £3,000.

In the process, he woke up an 11-year-old girl who had been sleeping peacefully in her bed as he ransacked the room around her, leaving the youngster so traumatised she is still reluctant to spend the night in her room.

Today, he is finally behind bars after magistrates decided enough was enough.

He is also just 14 years old - and the Daily Echo has been banned from revealing his identity.

The juvenile's sentence had been put back to this week to allow a report to be compiled that could have recommended a punishment that did not involve time in custody.

But after he failed to meet appointments, magistrates decided there was no option but to send him to a young offenders' institution for the burglary.

They told him they hoped the four-month sentence they have given him will provide "a short, sharp shock that will convince you to change your ways".

The youth's defence solicitor had conceded in mitigation that, were he an adult, "his feet wouldn't have touched the ground, and he would have been before the crown court, probably receiving three years for this".

During the burglary, on February 18 this year, he stole DVD players and discs, a camcorder, two mobile phones, an iPod, computer games, keys to a van, and a wallet containing £650, credit cards and a driving licence.

The cash had been withdrawn by the family to pay for building work.

The court heard a statement from the mother of the young girl, in which she said the raid had affected the whole family.

"My husband and I were suddenly awoken by our daughter coming in crying, shaking and screaming that something terrible had happened, that there was a man in the house trying to take all our stuff," she said.

"She's very young for her age, and since then she has slept with us."

The woman also described how one night she had awoken to find her young son walking around the house holding a metal pole for protection.

Before he was jailed, the youth, who was 13 at the time of the offence, told the court he was remorseful for his actions, adding that he had been drunk at the time and acting on a whim.

"I regret doing it, and I'm sorry to the people," he said.