A SERIAL burglar went “out of control” in a month-long spree in Oxford.

Darren Scales stole thousands of pounds of items from half a dozen properties in the city.

The 42-year-old, who said he was drinking and taking Valium during his offending, was arrested and bailed halfway through the spree, but went on to commit further break-ins.

Scales was jailed at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after admitting six counts of burglary and one charge of attempted burglary.

The first offence took place in Marlborough Road, South Oxford, on August 25 when Scales took jewellery, a laptop, a bag and car keys.

The defendant struck again in nearby Whitehouse Road on August 28 when jewellery and electrical items valued at £2,285 were stolen from a student house.

In the same week, Scales burgled another property in the street, taking a laptop and personal documents.

Having been arrested and bailed on August 30, Scales went on to break in to a house in Woodstock Road, North Oxford, on September 15, again taking jewellery and a bag.

On September 20 he tried and failed to burgle a dwelling in Osborne Close, Wolvercote.

The final burglary, in which Scales took cash, was at the home of a 77-year-old woman in Wolvercote.

The court heard the defendant, of Ulfgar Road, Wolvercote, has 25 previous convictions and was jailed for 33 months in 2008 for burglary.

Daniel Wright, defending, said his client had been taken into care aged five and had battled a “serious drug problem” for many years.

He said Scales had a place to study at Ruskin College but was recalled on licence to his previous jail term for missing probation appointments and “came out with nothing”.

He added: “He was out of control. He could not get hold of any methadone and things really began to spiral out of control.”

Mr Wright said his client “feels genuinely horrible about what’s happened”.

Judge Julian Hall jailed him for four-and-a-half years and said: “You give no thought to what your conduct causes to other people when you do it.”