while still on probation, vowed that he is now a changed man.

Jevon Reid Daniels, of Rose Hill, Southampton, admitted in Magistrates' Court on Friday that he broke into the home of a woman on Valley Lane in Somerset and stealing her purse, house keys and $170 in cash on February 16.

Claiming he is now a changed man, Daniels said: "I just finished school and I'm going to start a job on Monday. It was that I didn't have a job.

"I'm not saying it's right, but it's just something I did. I have changed and I am trying to change my life for the better, but I guess it's like they say, idle hands are the devils workshop.'' The offence is the second Daniels has committed while on probation for stealing a camera in 1997.

Last October he was given a community service sentence for cycle theft.

Mr. Francis, who is to receive a probation update on Daniels, granted him bail and ordered him to return to court for sentencing.