A GANG of three men looking for homes to burgle in a raid in Cofton Hackett were spotted by a woman who was up overnight with her baby, a court heard.

The would-be burglars tried the doors of six houses and also tried to break into five cars in the village in the early hours of November 7 last year, Worcester Crown Court was told.

At about 4am they went along East Works Drive and tried the doors of the houses but a woman who was up with her baby heard the handle, Tariq Shakoor prosecuting, said.

She went to the window and saw the three men cross the road and try to get into parked vehicles, he said.

They were caught on CCTV from at least two of the houses and Thomas Rogers, of Brookside, Northfield, who had 25 previous convictions, was recognised and arrested later by police.

Mr Shakoor said Rogers was acting as the lookout for the three men. The other two had been dealt with at separate hearings.

They had been looking for places to burgle and had stolen satnavs from three of the cars.

Rogers pleaded guilty to five counts of attempted burglary and six of interfering with a vehicle.

Gareth Walters, defending, said the offences were all on the same day last year and Rogers had since shown a growing maturity.

He had been taking drugs and drinking heavily at the time but now seemed to be moving in the right direction.

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins, QC, said Rogers had "started his criminal career" at the age of 12 and had spent a lot of time in prison without much benefit.

He found himself homeless and with no money and November 7 was "a bad day" when he and others committed 11 offences but he did not actually steal anything.

"This young man's life has got into a mess," he said. "I can't be wholly confident he will turn himself around but he is entitled to a chance."

He gave Rogers a sentence of 12 months suspended for two years with 15 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement. He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.