A bungling burglar was caught after he dropped a copy of the Sun newspaper at the scene of the crime.

Martin Storey, 30, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 42 months on Friday after pleading guilty to burglary at Blackfriars Crown Court.

In February, he got into a flat in Drayton Park, Highbury, after taking keys from a communal mailbox in the foyer. He stole computers, cameras and watches from the flat but dropped a copy of the red top he had been reading.

Police forensics experts used the discarded paper to link Storey to the crime and officers arrested him at an address in Hornsey Road, Holloway, in June.

Det Con Marcus Johnson, of Islington Burglary Squad, said: “Storey is a prolific burglar but on this occasion was foolish enough to discard a newspaper at the venue which enabled our Forensic Services to link him to the scene of the crime.

“Faced with this crucial and undeniable evidence, he had no option but to plead guilty.”