A HOUSEBREAKER is back behind bars after he admitted breaking into a sheriff’s house - for the second time.

Michael Houston, 45, targeted Dumbarton sheriff Maxwell Hendry’s home in Glasgow’s Kelvinside only weeks after being released from prison.

He was jailed for more than two years for breaking in to the house in October 2013, and making off with £30,000 worth of jewellery.

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Houston has since been jailed for other crimes and was released early on June 7, 2018 before he smashed his way into sheriff Hendry’s house, again, on June 23.

One passer by who saw Houston rummaging through upstairs rooms described this to police on the phone.

Houston pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to breaking into the house and stealing a laptop, jewellery worth £1,000, two wallets and £200 cash.

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Sheriff Norman Ritchie QC said Houston’s record is “atrocious” and sent him back to prison to serve eight months of his previous sentence.

He jailed him for a further 22 months for his latest crime.

The court heard sheriff Hendry and his wife Angela locked their house on June 21, and left for the weekend.

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Procurator fiscal depute Mark Allan said around 9.20pm local residents’ attention was drawn to the house by the sound of smashing glass.

The police secured the house until sheriff Hendry and his wife returned and were able to say what was missing.

Investigations led to Houston who was tracked down in August and sent back to prison.