A TEENAGER has been jailed after raiding a Southampton fish and chip shop while the owner was in bed in the flat above.

Vijay Louis Bunth Sandhu, 18, was arrested by police after he took a till and tried to break into it behind the store.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard he was breaching a curfew and suspended sentence imposed earlier.

Prosecuting, Natalie Angel said the owner of Charlie’s Fish and Chip Shop, in The Triangle, Bitterne, was in bed when he heard a noise at about 10.15pm.

The court heard the man lived in a flat above the business with his wife and 85-year-old mother-in-law.

Miss Angel said the owner grabbed a walking stick before heading downstairs and looking through a glass door, where he saw an open window. She added the man ran back up the stairs and told his wife to call the police.

The owner, who has been running the shop for about two years, then went back down to his shop.

The court heard he heard a mental clanging noise and something that sounded like shots from a BB gun.

Police arrived and found the defendant behind the store.

The shop’s till, which contained £750, was found with the money still inside.

Miss Angel said Sandhu had a number of previous convictions for burglary and theft.

Mitigating, Khalid Missouri said the defendant had been smoking cannabis since he was aged 14.

Sandhu, of Radcliffe Road, admitted burglary and was sent to a young offenders’ institution for six months and ordered to pay £400 compensation.