A burglar who stole a TV set from a child has done a deal with a judge to avoid being punished by wearing an electronic tag.

Jay Bates raided a house in Pardoner's Way, Dover, last month and stole a 32-inch television belonging to a 10-year-old boy.

The 20-year-old thief – who spent four and a half weeks in custody awaiting sentence – escaped with a suspended jail term, but faced two months under partial house arrest from 7pm to 7am.

It was then – when he feared he would also have to pay compensation – he told Judge Nigel Van Der Bijl: "Can I say one thing? Could I return the telly?"

The judge replied: "Did you say: 'Could you return the telly?' Have you got it?"

Bates answered: "I know where it is."

The judge told him: "I think that would be an excellent idea."

Amazingly, Judge Van Der Bijl promised to scrap the home curfew if the stolen TV was returned to the victim within a month.

The child's mother had revealed in a victim impact statement how he was now too afraid to sleep in his bedroom after the burglary at their home on October 2.

Bates, of Glenfield Road, Dover, had admitted the daytime break-in at the house while the family were out.

His barrister Rupert Jones called for a suspended sentence because of "the opportunistic nature of the offence".

He said: "He turned up at a friend's house and found the (victim's) house empty, acted on impulse. Added to that is the relatively low value of the property taken and the limited damage to the property."

Bates, who has a previous conviction for burglary and breaching court orders, was given a suspended sentence in August last year.

"Since then there has been no breaches and he says the reason is that it really focused his mind and really worked," said Mr Jones. "However, a few weeks after that order ended he committed this burglary.

"That does given some glimmer of light as to perhaps an appropriate method of disposal."

Mr Jones said Bates would "welcome the opportunity to do unpaid work for the community with open arms" – rather than go to jail.

He said the thief had completed unpaid work in the past, renovating a church.

Bates is now hoping to become a hairdresser and is part way through training courses at a local college.

Bates was given a 12-month prison sentence - suspended for two years - and ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work for the community.