A 47-YEAR-OLD man who has spent much of his life in prison has been jailed again for stealing a student’s dissertation in a burglary.

Martin James, who has 27 previous convictions including numerous burglaries, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

He had earlier been found guilty by jurors of burgling a student house in Gipsy Lane, Headington, on October 1.

James gained entry through an open window and took an iPod, games console, wallet and two laptops. One of the computers contained all the work for a student’s dissertation and he had to start the project again, the court heard.

Prosecutor Nadia Chbat said James’s offending began in 1982 and he was jailed for five years in 1999 for conspiring to supply Class A drugs.

Upon his release he was convicted of handling stolen goods twice in 2003 and was jailed for the same offence in 2004.

In 2005 he was given a two-year prison term for burglary and got another six-month sentence for burglary the following year.

In April 2010, James was jailed for three years, but committed this latest offence within weeks of his release.

Ian Brownhill, defending, said of his client: “On this day he was out working legitimately collecting scrap and he would have seen an opportunity to enter an open window.” He said none of the occupants were in at the time and James caused no damage or disturbance to the property.”

Mr Brownhill added: “No doubt this was an opportunistic incident probably (committed) more out of habit than anything else.”

Judge Patrick Eccles, who had read statements from the victims of the burglary, jailed James for a total of 32 months and said: “You have been here many times before.

“It does seem an act of utter folly that you should have committed this crime which the jury convicted you of.”

He added: “This was a house where a number of young people were living and one of them lost all of his dissertation.

“No wonder they feel particularly angry.”