A convicted drug addict burglar with more than 80 previous convictions, who was heading home after a failed shoplifting mission, spotted an open garage door and stole a bicycle.
Father of five Steven Jones, who has amassed 81 previous convictions for 161 offences, rode off on the £300 machine and sold it for a fraction of its value to feed his drug habit.
The victim put a photograph of the culprit, taken from CCTV footage, on social media but meanwhile police recognised him from the footage and he was nabbed.
Jones aged 38, of the Patten Arms Hotel, Parker Street, Bewsey and Whitecross, Warrington, found himself back in court yesterday (Tue) having admitted burglary and was jailed for two years, four months and 23 days.
Iain Criddle, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the offence happened on August 5 this year at a garage attached to a house in Burtonwood Road.
Only a few weeks earlier he had been given a suspended prison sentence for theft.
Ken Heckle, defending, said that Jones knew he had been given chances and not taken them. His addiction was an illness and he was realistic about the outcome of the court proceedings.
It had been an “opportunistic offence while he was looking for money for drugs.”
Mr Heckle said that Jones had been shoplifting earlier that morning but was caught and the goods taken off him. He was going home when he spotted the open garage door and casually walked in and then cycled off on the bike.
He is on methadone and anti-psychotic drugs in prison. He has five children in care and has no family support, he added.
Judge Simon Medand, KC, said Jones had been given chances to get off drugs and if he made that decision his health and life would be “transformed.”
He warned him that if he does not make that choice he will keep re-offending and receive longer and longer sentences.
