A thief who broke into a villa in suburban Beijing on five different occasions has been sentenced to a year in prison.

The man, surnamed Ye, first entered the villa one night in October 2005. He claimed he was curious to see "what a villa is". After stealing a golden earring, he felt a bit tired, fell asleep in one of the bedrooms and left the house at 4 am.

Since then, he has visited the villa several times. He was eventually caught by the owner, who called the police.