He promised he would use his years of ''expertise'' as a career criminal to help police track down burglars.

But Jason Fleming's boasts of a new life as a police ''crime consultant'' didn't last long. The 36-year old was arrested himself after carrying out a string of burglaries in his hometown of Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Two raids were carried out whilst he was on bail and terrified occupants had woken up to find Fleming in their bedrooms - and in one case he even pretended to be a police officer.

In at all seemed a far cry from 2011 when Fleming had been paraded in front of TV cameras and other media as the public face of a police campaign to crack down on break ins after he claimed he was going straight.

He went on patrol with with officers, gave them tricks of his trade and even helped them translate a burglar's ''to-do'' list which gave coded information about what type of houses might be worth targeting.

Earlier this month Fleming was brought back to court to face the same veteran judge who had sentenced him twice previously over earlier burglary sprees. In jailing him for five years Judge Jeffrey Lewis, 66, told Fleming: “No doubt your intention was to have turned over a new leaf, but when you ran into difficulties you reverted to old habits.

''This is the third occasion where I have had to pass a prison sentence on you for burglary. I can assure you it will be the last - but only because by the time you get out I will have retired.”

The court heard Fleming had started his life of crime when he was 15 and later jailed for seven seven years for burgling 400 homes. In 2007 he was given a further six-years behind bars for burglaries — even helping police clear up unsolved crimes by voluntarily admitting to break-ins.

His lawyer Miss Caroline Patrick said in mitigation: ''He had tried to stay out of trouble and worked at a vehicle dismantling yard - but in his hour of need when faced with personal problems, he turned to drugs and went back to crime.''

Cavendish Press' coverage of Fleming's court case went in the Daily Mail, The Sun and a string of newspaper websites. If you have a story please contact us on 0161 237 1066 or email [email protected]. We'd like to hear from you.