Followers of social media in Cross Hands caught a burglar within five hours of the crime being posted on Facebook.

Nicola Rees checked her home security camera footage and was horrified to see a man had been inside the porch of her home at 5.30am and searching for a key to the front door while she had been asleep in bed.

She posted the footage after receiving a tweet from Cross Hands police warning followers that a man had been seen in the area acting suspiciously during the early hours of December 3 last year.

Nicola put her home security footage on her Facebook account—and was given the name of David Elias within five hours.

Elias, aged 28, of 31 Banc y Gors, Upper Tumble, admitted burglary.

At Swansea Crown Court he was jailed for 12 months, suspended for 18 months. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work

The court heard that Elias had walked around the village trying to steal.

After his arrest more CCTV was found showing he had tried to get into cars parked on driveways, and at 2.27am had managed to get into William Price’s car get away with a £400 Satnav system.

Elias, who also admitted all offences relating to the cars, was ordered to pay Mr Price £400 compensation, and a court surcharge of £149.

Judge Nicola Jones said the footage of the inside of the porch of the house clearly showed Elias had wanted to get inside, and could be seen searching for a key.

Nicola Rees, she added, deserved credit for getting him identified within five hours of being alerted by police.