A burglar broke into his Bristol neighbour's home twice by removing bricks from a wall in his attic in order to gain access.

Nathan Kennedy, aged 35 and from Barton Hill, was today jailed for more than three years after pleading to two counts of burglary at Bristol Crown Court.

He was arrested in July last year just three days after the second burglary - because the victim activated a special tracking software called Absolute which he had downloaded to his stolen laptop.

Police were able to follow a trail which led right back to CCTV showing Kennedy selling the laptop on the same day it was stolen.

Officers were originally called to the victim's house on July 7 last year but were unable to tell how the burglar had entered the property as there were no signs of a break in and the house was secure.

Despite more security being added to the address, a week later a second burglary occurred where a laptop and other items were stolen.

When police visited the victim's house a second time, it was noticed that the loft hatch had been left slightly open and bricks from a loft wall between the address and a neighbouring property had been partly removed, allowing access into the victim's loft and house.

Kennedy, the victim's neighbour, denied burglary. However, a forensic investigation revealed traces of him at the house, despite the owners never having met him before.

Officers were then able to prove Kennedy's guilt after tracking software activated on the victim's laptop provided an address in south Bristol.

It turned out that the laptop had been given to the address on loan from a computer repair shop when the users took their own laptop to be fixed.

CCTV at the computer repair shop revealed that Kennedy had sold the stolen laptop there and signed a receipt to say it was his property.

Earlier this month, 19-year-old Rastin Khalaji, of Clifton, was convicted of handling stolen goods after he was caught in possession of a stolen laptop thanks to the victim activating tracking software Prey.

The software not only pinpointed the location of the laptop but remotely activated the camera and took pictures of Khalaji as he slept.

Acting sergeant Richard Skeath from Bristol priority crime team said: "This case is another example of how tracking software can be very valuable for the police and is another powerful tool in the fight against thieves.

"We would recommend people make use of the software that is available to download on computers and some smart phones, which can be activated remotely to find the location of your device if it ever goes missing."

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