A BOGUS window cleaner who burgled and preyed on householders has been jailed.

Gary Mason, 34, went from door to door along a New Earswick street during the evening of the England v Croatia World Cup semi-final, said Richard Charles, prosecuting.

If people answered his knock, he asked them for money claiming to be a window cleaner.

But at one house, he managed to get in and steal a Kindle.

He was on bail at the time for raiding a parked car.

Mason, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one burglary and four charges of fraud of being a fake window cleaner, all committed on July 11, and admitted interference with a car on June 24.

Jailing him for six months at York Crown Court, Judge Jim Spencer QC said: “You committed offences which really were designed to enable you to steal from people’s homes.”

For him, Glenn Parsons said Mason committed crimes to fund his long-standing heroin addiction. He needed help to conquer his addiction and was motivated to do so.

Mr Charles said the burglary victim spotted Mason behaving suspiciously on the street in New Earswick at 9.30pm on July 11 when out walking her dog.

When she realised the Kindle was missing from her home, she and her partner challenged him, but he denied taking it.

On June 24, another resident saw Mason working his way along a line of parked cars in a Huntington street trying their doors.

Mason stole a SatNav and other items from one of the cars, but was caught on CCTV, arrested and released on bail. He has many previous convictions, including for fraud.

Mr Parsons said Mason was willing to do a community sentence such as unpaid work or a drug rehabilitation requirement, but he didn’t have a fixed address.

“The reality is the only workable option is a short custodial sentence,” he said.