A GAMBLER was spared jail after bungling a burglary his sister’s house.

Zillur Khan, 28, had a debt of £2,000, Winchester Crown Court heard.

He was invited for dinner at his sister’s house in the West Hill area of the city when it emerged that she was heading to London the next morning.

The court heard that Khan returned the next day and smashed a window to enter the house, cutting his hand.

He dripped blood on the keypad to switch off the alarm, and further traces were found on a safe upstairs. While he failed to open it, he pocketed £2,300 in cash he found elsewhere in the house.

Khan was arrested after his DNA was found. Alexander Dos Santos, mitigating, said the married father-of-two had pleaded guilty but was now shunned by his sister, and had kicked his gambling habit.

Khan, of Mitcham, Surrey, was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years and a six-month supervision order.