BUNGLING burglar James Elmore left detectives the perfect clue at a Southampton house – a fingerprint.

The teenager clambered over a back fence and scaled a conservatory to get into the property through an open bathroom window.

He took an iPod that he subsequently sold for £25 but left behind the print that matched one on record, said prosecutor Carl Anderson.

Elmore, 19, of Tickleford Drive, Weston, Southampton, admitted one count of burglary and three of stealing drink for shops. Asking for 15 similar offences to be considered, he further admitted three breaches of post-sentence supervision.

Giving him two years supervision coupled with a six-month alcohol treatment requirement and a 150-hour community order, Judge Derwin Hope said Elmore had accumulated a terrible record with 31 previous offences.

“You have repeatedly gone into custody and offended on your release. If you don’t take this opportunity, you know what will happen to you.”

Mitigating at the city crown court, Christopher Wing said Elmore’s problem was drink.

“He has reached the crossroads with his life stretching in front of him.

“Either he gives up drinking or he keeps on stealing and one day he will realise he has wasted his life.”