Was he hoping for a clean getaway? Serial burglar took a BATH in victim's home after cooking a meal in microwave Andrew Cushman stole tools and electrical items from empty home Before he left he had a soak and a meal He also left hypodermic needles in a child's cot The 40-year-old has now been jailed for four years Bungling: Andrew Cushman took a bath during a raid on a home and helped himself to a microwave dinner A burglar who took a bath during a raid on a home and helped himself to a microwave dinner has been jailed for nearly four years. Andrew Cushman was caught after taking a soak in the tub and having dinner at a house he broke into in Chatham, Kent, on October 20 last year. Maidstone Crown Court heard how the 40-year-old serial burglar had sneaked into the house through the window and helped himself to various electronic items and tools. But before leaving the house he ran himself a bath and cooked himself dinner before trying to sneak out. However, his luck ran out when he was spotted by a neighbour - who wouldn't have noticed him had Cushman not spent more than an hour relaxing in the tub and eating a microwave meal. The neighbour approached the crook and demanded to know what he was doing in the house, when Cushman punched him in the head and ran off. The neighbour called the owner - a woman with small children - telling her she had been burgled and she came home to find her house 'trashed', with food gone from her freezer, the microwave splattered with food and her bath covered in dirt. The court heard how drug addict Cushman, of no fixed abode, was arrested after police discovered a hypodermic needle with his DNA on it in a cot of one of the victim's children. Detective Constable Steve Day of Kent Police, said: 'Cushman is a prolific career criminal with numerous convictions for burglary dwellings. 'He has had a significant impact on people's lives in the past with his criminal offending and in this case, entering a property and leaving needles around the house, including in a child's bed, is beyond contempt. This sentence should send a clear message out to burglary offenders in Medway that criminals will be dealt with robustly and that Kent Police will do everything in its power to make the public feel safe in their homes. Guilty: Cushman was jailed for nearly four years at Maidstone Crown Court. He was trapped by DNA evidence from a discarded needle Cushman denied two counts of burglary and common assault, but was found guilty and jailed for a total of three years and nine months. A spokesman for Kent Police said: 'A prolific burglar that took a bath and cooked food during a break-in at a house in Chatham has been jailed for nearly four years. 'When she (the victim) returned home she found the house had been trashed, food had been eaten, the microwave used and a number of hypodermic needles left around the house, including one in a child's cot. It was also found the intruder had decided to take a bath. A neighbour walking past the house at the time stopped after noticing the property had been trashed and confronted Cushman who was seen coming out of the house with some tools. The man asked him what he was doing and when he tried to look in the property, Cushman punched him in the side of the head. The man hit him back before running into the property to check if the occupant and her children were in and Cushman ran off. He added: 'Officers sent the needles off for forensic identification which confirmed they were Cushman's.'