Barefoot burglar caught stealing Batman goodies by boy aged five

Ryan Edwards, 39, of Snow Hill, Wolverhampton, was suffering from a drug-induced psychosis when he raided the house last September.

He was caught when a five-year-old boy went downstairs and saw him in his home, wearing child's earphones and shoeless.

When challenged by the boy's parents, he begged them to help him, asking for a lift to his mum's house.

He pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed for two years at Wolverhampton Crown Court in March.

On Thursday, after hearing of Edwards' history of mental health problems, two senior judges in London cut the sentence to only 12 months.

"The evidence in this case plainly showed that mental problems had afflicted him over a period of nearly a decade prior to this offence," said Mr Justice Holroyde.

The court heard Edwards was found by police behaving bizarrely when called by the couple who lived in the house in Ward Grove, Lanesfield.

He was muddy and scruffy, had woodlice crawling all over him and was trying to eat a stone.

Inside, he had conducted a 'very tidy' search of the house, making it difficult for the householders to work out what he had taken.

However, the burglary had had a devastating impact on the family, Mr Justice Holroyde said.

The five-year-old had gone from being a perfectly happy child to one racked with anxiety, unable to sleep and scared of going downstairs alone.

But Edwards' mental health problems had to be taken into account, said the judge - even though his illness at the time was drug-induced.

He had been placed in a hospital immediately after he was charged, displaying psychotic symptoms.

His mum said he had spoken in the time before the burglary of hearing voices and believed an uncle was trying to contact him through barcodes.

Despite the 'significant trauma' to the family, the mental health problems reduced Edwards' culpability, said the judge, sitting today with Mrs Justice May.

The sentence was cut to one year.