A PROLIFIC criminal who broke into a York hotel and stole cash and champagne while he was drunk has been jailed for a year.

Lee Michael Rose, 34, of Queen Anne’s Road, got in through the back door of Hotel Noir at Clifton Green with another man and searched the bar and office area in the early hours of June 25.

They later made off with £365 in cash and six bottles of champagne as well as two women’s maternity tops and some walkie-talkies, York Crown Court heard.

Rose – who appeared in court via videolink from prison – has 41 previous convictions from 117 previous cases.

When police examined CCTV and arrested Rose he pleaded guilty to a single count of burglary.

Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said: “You have an extensive record with 117 cases on it.

“You have been a prolific offender for many years.

“I know you did not have the best start in life and your early teenage years were disrupted when you had to go into residential care.

“You also have a shocking record for committing burglaries and you were sentenced to really quite long sentences for someone of your age.

“It appears to be the case that none of these sentences have worked.”

Rose would not give the name of the other man involved when questioned, York Crown Court was told.

No guests staying overnight at the hotel were disturbed during the burglary.

Recorder Ashurst said he believed Rose was at a “very high risk of reoffending”.

Giving him credit for his early guilty plea, he sentenced Rose to 12 months in prison.

In mitigation, the court was told Rose had a long- standing drug problem for which he said he had been given no rehabilitation.

He had also pleaded guilty at the earliest possible opportunity.

Natasha Screeton, general manager at Hotel Noir, said : “We were very pleased to have been able to give York CID a large number of excellent CCTV images from this burglary – something I would urge all business owners to invest in.

“These images were instrumental in identifying the responsible parties and resulted in the return of some of the stolen property and ultimately this conviction.

“I am very pleased the court has given a custodial sentence and hopefully, people considering breaking and entering will see this sentence and consider whether it is worth it for the price they will have to pay.”