A drug addict broke into a mosque and stole charity boxes.

Peter Griffiths also defiled the place of worship by wearing shoes, a court heard.

Repeat burglar Griffiths and an accomplice stole about £600 which has since caused financial difficulties for the Islamic Centre in Maidstone.

The 49-year-old also broke into a residential care home in Canterbury.

Griffiths faced a minimum three-year sentence as a “three strikes” burglar. He admitted two charges of burglary and two of theft and was jailed for three years and five months.

Prosecutor Mary Jacobson said Griffiths stole nine Swarovski pens worth £239 from H Samuel jewellers in Ashford last July.

Then on December 2, he and the other man broke into the mosque in Mote Road. Leader Hafiz Usmani found three charity boxes containing about £200 had been ripped off the wall.

Miss Jacobson said the leader had spoken of disrespect being shown because the intruders had not taken off their shoes.

Griffiths, who was on bail for the theft offence, was identified from CCTV footage. “Mr Usmani said it affected the whole community because they had trust in leaving donations there,” said Miss Jacobson.

“It affected finances because donations have become less since. They have dropped by about £150 a week.”

Griffiths, who has 44 previous court appearances, was arrested on January 5 and bailed again.

He then snatched a handbag from a woman in Cafe Nero, Maidstone, which contained her wedding ring, bank cards and an e-reader. He told police where the ring was hidden, declaring: “It would be nasty to deprive somebody of their wedding ring.”

Griffiths, of Whitstable Road, Canterbury, was bailed again and went on to burgle Roper House care home in St Dunstan’s, Canterbury.

When caught he held the hand of his victim, who had suffered a stroke, to pretend he knew her.