TWO frequent burglars from Ebbw Vale, who were found by a woman in her bedroom, were jailed yesterday.

A woman said she found Justin Harris and Jonathan Price, both 25, at her house on The Grove, Rassau, after one of them shone a torch in her face.

They ran away and were spotted by police dashing across Honeyfield Road later that night, on April 21, 2015. They were eventually detained on Rhondda Close.

Police then found a pair of black gloves, green rubber gloves, woollen gloves, a screwdriver, a spanner and a torch on the land the pair had run across.

After they were arrested, prosecutor Nuhu Gobir said, Harris, of Letchworth Road, accused police of “trying to stitch [him] up”.

Price, of Cynan Close, said nothing.

Price, who refused to attend Cardiff Crown Court yesterday, is already serving a 32 month prison sentence for a subsequent burglary.

They later both admitted going equipped for burglary.

Harris, known locally as Ernie, also admitted driving while disqualified on February 24 this year, after police officers spotted him as he drove a Suzuki Ignis around Ebbw Vale. The car was later found dumped in Briery Hill.

On arrest, Harris again said he thought police had again “stitched [him] up”.

He had been disqualified from driving at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court on December 16, 2015, until April 15 this year.

Defending him, Marian Lewis said he had an “unenviable record”. He has appeared in court 35 times before yesterday.

He had been prosecuted for seven burglaries previously.

She and Price’s barrister, Andrew Taylor, both said there was no evidence the pair were going to burgle a house – and could have been going to steal from something else, such as a garden shed or a garage.

Mr Taylor also raised how long the offence had taken to come to court for sentencing, adding Price had already been jailed, for an offence committed after the one in question.

Harris was sentenced to six months in prison. Four months of that is for breaching a suspended sentence handed to him for an affray offence in September 2015. At that time he was given a four month term suspended for two years.

He was also given two months for going equipped for burglary and driving while disqualified. They will be concurrent sentences together but consecutive to the other four month sentence.

Price will serve the two months for going equipped for burglary, after his 32-month sentence has finished.