A MAN with paranoid schizophrenia has been convicted for stealing more than £1,000 from a friend in a Winchester supported housing unit.

Daniel Fox, 28, admitted breaking into Katie Jackson's room in April and stealing cash from her safe.

Prosecutor Tom Horder described how Fox owed £40 to Ms Jackson, a friend and neighbour at the facility in Colebrook Street.

Ms Jackson trusted him to leave it in a safe in her room, where she had kept £1,300 in savings for a new car.

But a committal hearing heard how Fox, now of Manor View, Durley Street, forced his way into the room when she wasn't there and took the cash.

When confronted he ran off with a rucksack, Winchester Crown Court heard. He was arrested days later near Winchester railway station.

Lance Whiteford, mitigating, said Fox had repaired his relationship with Ms Jackson and repaid £400, adding that he was "subject to the effects" of his paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the incident.

Fox is on conditional bail before sentencing for burglary at Winchester Crown Court on October 16.