He has spent the past two decades making the lives of householders and business owners a misery by targeting them as part of a string of raids.

And now Craig Hicks, 35, who was just 15 when he received his first conviction, is behind bars again having been jailed for a total of five years and nine months after he admitted three burglaries and asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration.

Hicks, who has 23 previous convictions for 69 offences, was in 2001 given a year's custody as a youth after he was one of a group involved in an attack on a teen known as 'goldilocks' because of her long hair which they cut off because she gave evidence against them in a case.

At Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, Hicks, formerly of Cubitt Road, Norwich, was told by Judge Stephen Holt he had an 'appalling record'.

The court heard Hicks had posed as a water authority worker to get into the house of a student who was attacked and then burgled in Barnham Broom on March 9 this year.

Hicks and the other man told the victim they were working in the area and asked if they could check his water.

David Wilson, prosecuting, said that within a 'short period of time' one of the men had punched the victim in the face.

Mr Wilson said one of the men asked the victim where his watch was and then hit him in the face again.

He said: 'He was bundled to the floor and started shouting for help.

'He said he was scared for his mother and sister, who were still in the property.'

The victim ran out of the house to get help and £1,000 of jewellery was stolen.

Hicks also admitted stealing £13,000 of construction tools following a break-in at Barhale Construction site office, off Heartsease Lane, between March 10 and 14 this year and a burglary at a home on Montcalm Road, Norwich, on April 7 when cash and jewellery were stolen.

Hicks also asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration, including two burglaries at a branch of Papa John's Pizza and another building site burglary.

Rob Pollington, mitigating for Hicks, said: 'Mr Hicks accepts his behaviour is appalling, he accepts his record is appalling.'