A teenager stole valuables and caused damage totalling more than £54,000 by targeting 13 homes in the Brundall and Great Yarmouth area - which he burgled after checking no one was in.

Nicholas Bleaney, prosecuting at Norwich Crown Court, said the youth knocked on doors leaving fake calling cards to check no one was in before breaking in and ransacking the homes to steal mainly cash and jewellery, much of which had special sentimental value.

The youth broke into a home on Strumpshaw Road, Brundall, on January 14, this year, while the owners were out and stole a Playstation, jewellery and cash.

Two weeks later Mr Bleaney said the youth broke into another property in Postwick Lane, Brundall, in which the home was ransacked and cash and jewellery were among items stolen.

He also burgled a home in Westfield Road, Brundall, on February 4, this year, where again cash and jewellery to the value of £4,319 was stolen.

Mr Bleaney said the youth was arrested in Great Yarmouth, and some stolen jewellery was found in his pocket along with stolen cash, which was returned to the owners.

He also asked for 10 similar offences to be taken into consideration, which included burglaries in Acle and Great Yarmouth.

Mr Bleaney said that impact statements showed the burglaries had left his victims feeling unsafe in their own homes and caused health problems with one victim even wanting to move home as a result of what happened.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted three burglaries and asked for 10 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

David Stewart, for the youth, said that he wanted to wipe the slate clean and had been putting his time to good use while on remand.

He said the burglaries would not have been cleared up but for his admissions to police.

Sentencing the youth to a 12-month detention and training order, Judge Katharine Moore said if he had been an adult his sentence would have been measured in years.

She said: "You chose crime as a way of life."

However she accepted he had now wanted to wipe the slate clean and made admissions and told him: "Make this spell of offending the very last."

She said the burglaries had caused a great deal of upset to his victims: "They are left marked by your offending."

His co-defendant Francisco Goncalves, 19, of King Street, Great Yarmouth, who admitted handling a stolen Nintendo Switch and docking station taken in one of the burglaries, was given a three-month curfew.