Cardiff Crown Court in Wales heard on Thursday that the man identified as Damian Wojniłowicz also left a bottle of wine and a note for the owner saying: “Don’t worry, be happy, eat up and scratch.”

The 36-year-old also cleaned the floor, emptied a recycling bin and filled bird feeders in the garden.

In a victim statement the homeowner said: “Two weeks after the crime until he was caught, I was living in a state of heightened anxiety I had never experienced before.

“I wondered if it was somebody who knew me, if it was going to turn into a stalking incident, if he knew I lived alone and if I had been targeted.

“I was too scared to stay in my own home and stayed with a friend.”

Alice Sykes, prosecuting, told the court: “This is a very unusual burglary. There had been the consumption of food and alcohol. “The victim spoke to her neighbour who said she had seen someone hanging the washing on the line.” The court heard that Wojniłowicz later broke into a second home and used a shower and a hot tub on the property, but left when the owner’s son-in-law arrived.

Tabitha Walker, Wojniłowicz’s attorney, said that her client was homeless and going through difficulties, adding that he was apologetic to the victims.

He pleaded to two counts of burglary.