A hungry burglar has been handed a slice of justice after police officers overheard him in a pizza shop hours after he went on a stealing spree.

Mark Ishmael, of no fixed address, stole a phone from a home in Otford in October and stupidly answered it when officers called before accidentally leaving the line open.

Police listened in on Ishmael and heard a person asking for extra pepperoni on their pizza, quickly realising the 51-year-old had made his way to a nearby pizzeria.

Ishmael was subsequently charged with three counts of burglary and went on to plead guilty to all three offences.

He was sentenced to five years for these offences at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday (December 1).

The court heard that Ishmael committed the burglaries on the evening of October 28 stealing jewellery, watches, laptops, tablet computers, designer handbags and a Mercedes car key.

The first two burglaries that were reported occurred in Station Road, Otford, and detectives managed to arrest Ishmael within three hours.

After Ishamel accidentally left the phone connected, police tracked him down and found him in the pizza shop with the items he was accused of stealing, including a bag with the phone in.

At first, the burglar denied the bag was his, but his shoes were then matched to a print taken from one of the burglary scenes.

While under investigation for the two burglaries, police also linked him with a burglary in London Road, Wrotham, which took place on the same night.

A shoe print taken from that burglary was found to match Ishmael’s trainers and the car key he was found in possession of belonged to a vehicle registered to that address.

Further to the burglary charges, Ishmael also admitted trying to pervert the course of justice by providing officers with a false name when he was arrested.

For this he received an additional nine month sentence, which is to be served consecutively.

Detective Constable Barrie Prowse, the investigating officer for the case, said: "Ishmael is a prolific offender with over 40 previous convictions, many of which are for burglary or theft offences.

"He callously seeks to steal items of high and sentimental value from innocent members of the public before selling them on for his own means.

"He presents a real and significant risk to the rest of society and it is entirely appropriate that he has received this sentence."