A New Brighton pub was burgled by two men after one had raided the flat above - leaving the occupant in fear of his safety - and stolen his wallet and the keys to the premises, a court heard on Monday.

During the middle of the night raid they ripped out the pub safe, leaving the back still attached to the wall, and escaped with the staff tip jar and the keys to the caretaker’s car.

But a caretaker, who had been awoken by the sound of an intruder in his flat, had seen them downstairs in the pub on the CCTV system linked to his phone and alerted police.

When two officers arrived at the pub, The Pilot Boat in Magazine Brow, they found Peter Badley carrying the damaged safe in the car park. “He placed it on the floor and was arrested,” said Simon Leong, prosecuting.

The safe, which had been ripped from the cellar wall with a claw hammer, contained £450 cash and £280 Christmas draw money, which was all recovered.

One of the officers noticed movement by a bin in the car park and the other burglar, Tony Jackson, was seen crouching down hiding behind the bin.

“Upon being detected he stood up and stepped out and dropped two blue crowbars on the floor. After a brief struggle he was detained and arrested,” said Mr Leong.

He was searched and the wallet belonging to the caretaker, which contained £50 cash and bank cards, was found on him. He also had a large amount of loose change in his pockets.

Mr Leong said that the crowbars had been used to force entry to the flat and in a victim impact statement, who also works as a HGV driver, told how he has been losing sleep since the break-in and wakes “at every little noise. At the time I was fearful for my own safety, I was aware there were two people.”

Pub licensee Kerry Billington told of the impact of the raid, particularly being so close to Christmas, and said she had to pay for the £420 damage to the premises and £90 for a new safe.

Jackson, of Thorburn Road, New Ferry, pleaded guilty to breaking into the flat and the pub on his 33rd birthday, December 16 last year. He admitted being in breach of an eight week suspended sentence imposed in April last year for shoplifting.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 34-year-old Badley, of Euston Grove, Birkenhead, died early last month. He had pleaded guilty to breaking into the pub but denied burgling the flat and had been due to face trial.

Matthew O’Neill, defending, said that Jackson, who has 40 previous convictions, has a long standing addiction to Class A drugs.

Badley had been a close friend of his and he has sadly passed away and his sister has been the victim of a traumatising incident, he said.

Jailing Jackson for a total of 28 months Judge David Aubrey, QC, said, “Imagine the fear of the occupier when you had gone into his flat and invaded his space, invaded his privacy.”

He pointed out, “Christmas and good will would have been on his mind but you displayed no good will whatsoever that night such was your intention in order to feed your drug habit at the time.”