A drunk burglar caught hiding behind his victim’s fridge with a baseball bat tried to convince police he was trying to escape the winter cold.

Jonathan Read, 31, was also equipped with wire cutters, claw hammers and screwdrivers, when he was discovered inside the Charm Hair and Beauty Salon in Ramsgate in December 2019.

“It was a night-time burglary at the salon shortly before 10pm,” prosecutor Gino Connor explained.

“Police were called after members of the public had seen a man trying to kick his way into the property.”

When officers searched the High Street salon, there was no sign of a burglar.

But when the owners scouted the building shortly afterwards, they discovered smears of blood and their belongings hauled into bin bags - including towels, cosmetics and bottles of wine.

A little more than £20 was also missing from the till.

They soon found Read hiding behind the fridge, claiming he was trying to get warm after being kicked out of a pal’s home following a row.

Read pleaded guilty to commercial burglary and four counts of going equipped for a burglary before trial, although he denied the baseball bat was his.

Mr Connor said: “The last matter before the court was on 31st May 2018 when he was conditionally discharged for 18 months for possession of drugs.”

Judge Catherine Brown told Read, of Aldridge Close in Herne Bay, he must comply with an alcohol treatment order, 40 rehabilitation days and a three-month curfew.

“If you keep to those and do not commit any offence then the order I have made will not take effect,” she said. “But if you break the order then that will be activated or amended to make it more onerous.”

Mitigating, Phil Rowley said Read admitted having a drink problem and agreed to comply with the alcohol requirement order.

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