A FENCE who used auction houses to dispose of a burglar's loot from North Yorkshire properties has been jailed for three years.

Lynden Yates Kitchen, 40, tried to sell a £3,000 painting which had been stolen from Hutton Wandesley, near Rufforth, through a London auctioneer, but the deceit was discovered, said Chris Smith, prosecuting.

Kitchen also took several thousand pounds worth of antiques and other loot from Settrington House, near Malton, and Great Broughton, north of the North York Moors, to a Darlington auctioneer.

Last month, Michael Edward Kenny was convicted by a jury of six burglaries. After Kenny's trial ended, Kitchen admitted he knew he was fencing loot from Kenny's raids.

"I have come to the conclusion that you are a professional criminal," Judge Jim Spencer QC told Kitchen.

Kitchen, no fixed address, pleaded guilty to three offences of handling stolen goods and was jailed for three years.

Kenny, of Finchley, London, is on the run after skipping bail halfway through his trial. He had previous convictions for burglary and was jailed for eight years in his absence after the verdicts.

The Press reported last Friday how Kenny had now been named as one of the UK's most wanted criminals.

For Kitchen, James Robinson said he had already suffered some punishment because the handling charges had prevented him being released early from a four-year sentence for drug dealing.

It had also prevented him from attending a rehabilitation course for gamblers.

The barrister suggested that Kenny was the main man in the crimes.

Mr Smith said the police had received information that suggested Kenny may have threatened a third man in the case and accused him of being a "grass".

The burglaries occurred in 2004, York Crown Court heard.

Kitchen had attempted to sell the painting in July 2004 and the other stolen items in February 2005.