A BURGLAR who was identified after CCTV of him raiding the home of an elderly man was shared on social media by police has been jailed.

Michael Karl Lambert, 38, was jailed for 11 months for burgling an address in Cliffe, near Selby, just after midnight on Monday, September 16.

Relatives of the 79 year-old man had installed CCTV cameras throughout his home after it had been burgled four times in the same year.

Footage capturing the latest burglary was shared with police, and within a few hours of the initial report, the force had issued an appeal on social media and via the media asking for help to identify the suspect.

Lambert’s name was suggested by members of the public and he was arrested the following day.

Lambert, of Portland Farm, Hemingbrough, appeared at York Crown Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment and ordered to pay court costs.

Detective Constable Hannah McPeake, of North Yorkshire Police, called the burglary "spineless".

She said: “I’d like to thank the members of public who put Lambert’s name forward to North Yorkshire Police which enabled us to swiftly make the arrest and carry out the investigation. I’m extremely pleased for the victim and his family that this ordeal is over and that Lambert is now behind bars where he belongs.”