A burglar who was caught halfway through a hole in a flat door demanded to know why police had not arrested his accomplice.

Stephen Fidler, 36, of Lewes Road, Brighton, burgled a basement flat in Marine Parade, Brighton, at about 2pm on Thursday.

He ran off when a neighbour and a builder working nearby confronted him about why he was there He admitted the burglary at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

Fidler had originally entered no plea but after hearing he would be remanded in custody to await his next hearing he changed his plea to guilty.

The court heard he is a Big Issue seller with a cocaine addiction and had drunk four or five cans of lager and taken cocaine worth £20 between 9.30am and 2pm on Thursday.

A builder in Marine Parade heard banging coming from the flat. When he investigated he found Fidler with his body halfway through a door panel.

Fidler said it was his girlfriend’s flat and he had reported to the police that she had been burgled.

Both the builder and another neighbour who confronted Fidler knew the woman living at the flat was not his girlfriend.

They called police. Fidler fled but was arrested on the mezzanine between Marine Parade and Madeira Drive.

Witnesses said he was with a second man who was nearby when the crime was committed.

After Fidler was arrested he asked police: “If I have been arrested, why has Carl not? He was with me.”

The court heard he has had five convictions already this year and a history of burglaries.

He was already serving three suspended sentences and a community order when he was arrested.

The magistrates remanded him in custody to be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court. No date has yet been set for that hearing.