A JUDGE extended the hand of mercy to a burglar sitting in the back of a court in a wheelchair.

Judge John Dixon heard Mustafa Ahmed, who stole more than £2,000 of goods from student accommodation, was now suffering from multiple sclerosis.

He gave him a ten month suspended sentence coupled with 12 months supervision to enable him to keep appointments with neurologists investigating his condition.

Ahmed had been invited to a social evening at the Orion Point flats occupied by Solent University students where he drank heavily.

Prosecutor Tim Dracass said he left but returned later when the occupants had gone out and picked or forced locks on their rooms to steal laptop computers, digital cameras and jewellery.

The city crown court heard he later realised what he had done and contacted the woman who had invited him to the party but she no longer wanted anything to do with him.

Police recovered all the property from under his bed.

However, one student had been so badly upset that it caused her to quit her course and return home, said Mr Dracass.

Ahmed, 24, of Wordsworth Road, Southampton, admitted three counts of burglary.