A burglar from Pembroke has been jailed under the 'three strikes and you are out' rule.

Lee Howard, aged 30, admitted a third house burglary and faced a mandatory three-year prison sentence.

Judge Peter Heywood, sitting at Swansea Crown Court, trimmed the sentence to reflect Howard's guilty plea and he was jailed for two years and five months.

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said a woman staying at a holiday flat in Castle Square, Tenby, had left the front door open because her husband was due to return.

Howard saw his chance and, without alerting the woman or her two children, crept in and stole a £700 mobile telephone, £20 in cash, credit cards and tickets to enter Folly Farm.

The husband arrived as he was leaving, but Howard managed to get away.

After his arrest, Howard, of the Riverside Hostel, Woodbine Terrace, led police to the mobile and it was recovered.

Frank Phillips, representing Howard, said the burglary had not been planned and Howard had been so drunk he could not even remember doing it.

Howard, he said, was a qualified chef, decorator and welder, but was wasting his talents.

Judge Heywood said the government had laid down a minimum sentence for anyone who carried out a third burglary.