A prolific criminal - who has received 43 convictions for 119 offences over a 27-year period - targeted the west Suffolk home of a 102-year-old in his latest round of crimes, a court heard.

Matthew Eke smashed the rear door to get into the centenarian's Bury St Edmunds home, but was disturbed by the occupant who told him to "get out" before he disappeared.

Eke appeared for sentencing at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to more than 20 fraud, theft and burglary offences, committed in the Bury St Edmunds area, between May and July this year.

In sentencing Eke, previously of Thetford, to three years in prison, Judge David Wilson described the break-in at the 102-year-old's home as the most serious of the offences.

He said: "These were a series or campaign of burglaries in Bury St Edmunds by you showing a callous disregard of householders' rights by violating the homes of these individuals."

Other crimes for which Eke was sentenced included the theft of a wallet on June 17, which was caught on CCTV, the theft of food and personal hygiene products worth £80 from a Co-op store in June and the theft of £350 of vodka and clothing from retailer Sainsbury's in July.

Eke broke into a home in Bury St EdmundsEke broke into a home in Bury St Edmunds (Image: Suffolk police)

Additionally, the court heard how a man returned home in June to find that Eke had smashed his dining room window to get in and steal high value items, including equipment, a US driving licence and a wallet.

The bank card in the wallet was then used to fraudulently obtain goods worth more than £50.

Eke has spent time in prison for previous offences, including 18 months in prison for a dwelling burglary in 2011 and eight years in prison for offences in 2017.

Steven Dyble, mitigating for Eke, said the bricklayer had relapsed into crime after a relationship he was in with a partner from a "decent family" who had a "positive influence" on him hit a bumpy patch and he was no longer living with her.

"It was during that period of homelessness that the defendant resorted to taking drugs," Mr Dyble added.

He called for Eke's guilty pleas to be taken into account during sentencing, adding: "The tragedy is that he reconciled with his partner and there is an event that he will miss today."