A balaclava-clad crook covered himself with mud in a bid to hide from police in the dark.

Barry Joseph Wilson’s desperate attempt to avoid detection failed however, and he and an accomplice were arrested at a fenced-off water treatment works in Allonby.

Wilson, 41, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court having admitted a charge of going equipped for theft on the night of March 1.

He was jailed for 35 weeks by Judge Barbara Forrester.

Beccy McGregor, prosecuting, said security staff were employed at the United Utilities compound at a time when it was undergoing reconstruction.

The alarm was raised at about 10pm after two “heavily disguised” men were found to have entered the site.

Wilson was said to have been wearing a balaclava, while partner-in-crime Scott Lawman’s hood was pulled up.

Officers had to access the fenced-off site through a gap in a gate.

Ms McGregor said: "As they did so, a police officer located Mr Wilson. He was effectively hiding from police officers, covering himself in mud as he did so.

"To the defendant’s credit he didn’t try to run off."

Numerous incriminating items were found in the area, including tools, gloves, torches and a radio.

A farm vehicle used by the two men, which had been bought the day before, contained a fuel pump.

Wilson had a number of previous convictions. One of these was an assault on a woman in Wigton town centre in December, 2014.

On that occasion Wilson headbutted the woman – splitting her eyebrow – as she intervened in a dispute he was having with another man.

He was given an 18-month suspended prison term and was still subject to that sentence at the time of his latest crime.

Graham O’Sullivan, defending, said a "positive" pre-sentence report had been prepared on Wilson by the probation service.

But he conceded: "It is a shame that realistically it may not be enough to assist him as much as it would in other circumstances."

Wilson, of Brindlefield, Wigton, was told by Judge Forrester that only immediate custody was appropriate for his Allonby offence.

She added: "You were well aware if you committed another offence during the period of suspension then you would go to prison."

Wilson’s 37-year-old accomplice Lawman was sentenced for his role in the crime during a magistrates’ court hearing last month.

Lawman, of Mealo House Caravan Park, Allonby, also admitted going equipped for theft. He was given an 18-week jail term.