A MUSSELBURGH thief was caught ransacking a Tranent home as the family slept upstairs.

David Williamson broke into the property by forcing open the patio doors before making off with a handbag, a wallet and some cash held in a bag.

He was seen running from the property following the theft at about 2.15am on November 15 last year and was soon caught up with by police as he walked in a nearby street.

Williamson pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Wednesday.

Fiscal depute Aiden Higgins told the court that two adults and a 12-year-old child were asleep upstairs when Williamson was heard to be “banging” about downstairs.

Mr Higgins said: “It was appreciated there must be someone downstairs and the husband went downstairs and could see items were missing, such as his wife’s handbag, a wallet and a pouch of coins.

“The wife, who remained upstairs, looked out of the bedroom window and saw a male running from the house carrying items.”

The fiscal added that the 12-year-old girl had been left “really upset” at the break-in and had to be reassured by her mother.

Police soon arrived at the home at the town’s Lawson Way and, following a search of the area, a man resembling the thief’s description was spotted.

The 27-year-old was caught and taken to a police station, where it was found he had a wallet and was in possession of a bag of coins.

A subsequent search of the surrounding fields uncovered the woman’s handbag and other items that had been discarded by Williamson as he fled.

Defending solicitor Angela Craig said that her client, described as a prisoner of HMP Edinburgh, had “a chronic drug addiction” and had been on a drug treatment order previously issued by the court.

Ms Craig said that the drug order had “hardly got off the ground when he committed this offence” and that he was “struggling” with the addiction.

The solicitor said that Williamson was currently serving a 10-month custodial sentence for a separate offence and his earliest release date was April 16.

Sheriff Norman McFadyen told the thief: “You are becoming a persistent offender and breaking into a family’s house is particularly troubling and not surprisingly distressing.”

Williamson was handed a two-year prison sentence which will run consecutive to his current jail term.