A 24-YEAR-OLD man who broke into his ex-partner's Dursley home and stole a USB memory stick from her computer was given a suspended jail term and placed under home curfew by a judge today.

Donald Tomlinson, of Midland Road, Gloucester, had originally received an 18-month supervision order and 80 hours unpaid work for the offence after he was convicted by a jury in March.

But in June he returned to Gloucester Crown Court for missing unpaid work appointments - and today he was back again to admit that he had again breached the order by failing to turn up for supervision appointments.

Probation officer Hilary Cowmeadow said he had not attended on August 21 and September 4 and had not given any explanation for his absence.

She asked for the order to be revoked and for Tomlinson to be re-sentenced.

Joe Maloney, defending, said "He accepts he is in grave danger here today because this is the second time he has come before the court for breach of the order.

"I have told him if the court follows the recommendation of the probation service he will be facing a custodial sentence. "

Judge Euan Ambrose told Tomlinson "You have only got yourself to blame for this. I shall revoke your original order and pass a 12 months jail term suspended for 18 months and a 12 months supervision order.

"I am also placing you under an electronically tagged curfew for three months from 7pm to 7am each night. You will also have to attend a Building Better Relationships programme and pay costs of £60.

"You have now got something quite heavy hanging over you. If you don't turn up for supervision appointments or you don't co-operate that heavy thing will fall on your head. It is time you started to comply. I cannot say it any more clearly than that."

At his trial in March, Tomlinson had denied raiding night club barmaid Emma Miles' terraced home in Dursley but was convicted by the jury.

Ms Miles discovered the burglary when she arrived home to find the house had been entered through a window she left ajar for her cat. At first she did not notice that anything was missing.

Later, when she logged onto her computer, she realised that someone had used it and had looked at some of her personal and family photographs.

She also realised that a USB stick a neighbour had given her a day or two earlier was missing.

That led her to suspect that ex partner Tomlinson, the father of her younger child, was the culprit. He was the only person other than herself who knew her computer password.

In evidence Tomlinson said the USB stick had been put through his letterbox in a brown envelope and he suspected it may have come from a member of local gang OPM to draw attention to the poor security at Ms Miles' home.