A TEENAGER who has committed burglaries since he was 14 was spared a prison sentence so he can be a "brilliant dad" to his baby daughter.

Bristol Crown Court heard from Mark Badman's partner that he had helped support her when the baby was born three months early.

Badman, 19, of Hazel Grove, Horfield, had pleaded guilty to burgling The Boudoir Salon in Kellaway Avenue, stealing four pairs of hair straighteners worth £348, an iPod and docking station worth £150 and a cash box containing £150 cash.

It was his eighth offence of burglary since his first, which he committed before his 15th birthday.

Kannan Siva, prosecuting, said Badman had been caught because his fingerprints were found on a box containing straighteners that were found outside the premises.

He said the owner of the premises and her family slept above the shop and had suffered a great deal of "distress and upset" because of the burglary on August 17 last year.

Richard Sheppard, defending, conceded his client had a "poor record" but was a subordinate in part of what was a bigger group burglary, in which the family's Audi car had also been stolen.

Badman's partner Chelsea Bartlett told the court: "I had my baby three months early and he was there with me when I did. She is nearly six months old now.

"He is a brilliant dad to his daughter. I think having her has really made an impression on him."

Recorder Nicholas Atkinson QC gave Badman a six-month suspended jail sentence. Badman was also given a two-year community order with supervision.

The judge said: "You have been before the courts too many times and cannot afford to come back again."