Bungling burglars ended up in court when the victim of an attempted raid recognised one of them on his CCTV cameras as an old school friend.

Joseph Brooker and Liam Daykin climbed into their victim's garden on August 2 last year a judge was told, wearing partial face coverings and gloves.

The 34-year-old and the 30-year-old burglars fled back over a fence after the home owner activated an alarm during the daylight burglary attempt.

Later that day the pair were caught handling goods they had stolen during a different burglary. They admitted both offences.

In a victim impact statement, the home owner said: "When I looked at the CCTV footage I realised I knew Liam. I was angry. We had never had any issues before so the last thing I expected to see was him breaking into my home.

"I have known Liam for a number of years and in particular we were friends when we were younger. I cannot believe he did it. The only good thing is he got so little out of it and now stands to lose so much."

Bespectacled Daykin, of The Hale, Windsor, who was working as a cleaner in a pilates studio and Joseph Brooker, of Sawyers Close, had smashed a downstairs window in their efforts to gain access to the property and both had a string of previous convictions.

Judge Sarah Campbell, sparing the pair jail during a sentencing hearing at Reading Crown Court, said: "This was a particularly mean offence because the person whose house you were attempting to burgle went to school with you Mr Daykin. I cannot know if you particularly targeted his address or it was a coincidence.

"You are both working and you now have somewhere to live. You will be looking at a lengthy custodial sentence if you commit any further offences."

Brooker and Daykin were both given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 month and handed 120 hours of unpaid work. Brooker was ordered to attend 30 sessions of a probation accredited programme and 10 rehabilitation requirement days. Daykin was given 20 sessions of a probation accredited programme and 15 rehabilitation requirement days.

They were both charged £50 to repair the downstairs window they broke.