THREE young men who broke into the home of a group of Royal Agricultural College students while they slept and stole £3,000 worth of luxury goods and a Landrover have been jailed.

The trio were walking past the large house occupied by the students when they were tempted by the sight of a large stock of cigarettes in the property, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

They broke in and took a 42 inch TV, computer and camera - and ferried it all away in a Landrover owned by one of the students. They later set the vehicle on fire in the grounds of a nearby school.

Carl Butler 19, of Leaholme Court, The Avenue, Cirencester, Charles Latham, 20, of Querns Lane, Cirencester, and Luke Hacker 20, of Cheltenham Road, Stratton, nr Cirencester, all admitted burglary.

All three also admitted stealing the Land Rover and later burning it, and Butler admitted driving it while disqualified.

Butler and Latham were sentenced to 12 months in a young offenders institution for the burglary, and six months concurrent for taking the Land Rover. Butler received another three months concurrent for driving while disqualified.

Hacker, who had no previous convictions, was given ten months for the burglary and six months concurrent for taking the car.

James Byrne, prosecuting, said that on December 3 last year, students living in a large house in Cirencester went out for the evening with friends and a large amount of drinking was involved.

"They returned at about 3.30am and went to bed but one of the occupants, who had been working in the college library, returned home at 5.30am and found a number of high value electrical items had gone missing," he went on.

"These included a 42 inch LCD Television, an Apple Mac computer and a Nikon camera. In total, the value came to about £3,000.

"Another resident noticed the keys to his £4,000 Land Rover Discovery had been taken and the vehicle had been stolen."

He said police then received a call saying that a Discovery had been burned out in the grounds of the nearby Deer Park School.

Intelligence led police to the three accused men?s homes, where some of the stolen items were recovered.

"They all immediately admitted the burglary and said they had been drinking until about 3am and noticed a large amount of cigarettes in the house as they were went past," Mr Byrne said.

"Mr Hacker went in to help himself and then called to the others to say there were expensive items for the taking."

They removed what they could but could only carry a limited amount to Butler?s house, so they returned to get more and Butler took the Land Rover keys. They drove the car around for a time, and then set fire to it.

Nicola Berryman, defending all three men, said they realised they had put themselves in a very serious position.

She said they were all very contrite about their actions that night and frightened about the sentence the court might impose upon them.

"The pre-sentence report suggests a suspended prison sentence, and I am concerned that more damage could be done to them if they go into custody and mix with other offenders more used to the system," she said.

But Judge William Hart disagreed, saying it had been a residential burglary while the occupants were in the house, and the vehicle had been taken and later destroyed.

"You took property and then returned and took more," he said.

"These were serious offences and warrant a custodial sentence which cannot be suspended," he added.