A THIEF caught with stolen goods after his neighbour was burgled has been jailed for 18 weeks.

Goods including a Bluetooth speaker, a bag and makeup brushes which had been taken from a home in Campernell Close, Brightlingsea, were discovered in Gavyn Booker’s flat nearby after the victim had discovered some of her children’s missing clothes outside the flat in May.

In July, Booker took an orange mountain bike from outside Aldi in Cowdray Avenue, Colchester, after cycling up to it on his own bicycle.

He used bolt cutters to free the bike from its lock and rode off on it, dumping the original vehicle nearby.

The 26-year-old admitted handling stolen goods and theft of a bicycle when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court.

He also admitted a second charge of handling stolen goods and fraud by false representation after being caught on CCTV using a bank card which had been taken from a burglary in Ipswich to buy £9 worth of tobacco from Tesco and failing to comply with a community order after not turning up to scheduled sessions he had been given for a racially aggravated public order offence.

Magistrates lost patience with Booker, who is now of no fixed abode, because of his failure to work with the authorities and his long criminal record which shows 28 convictions for 48 offences.

When he is eventually released from jail, Booker must pay back £9 to the woman whose bank card he used, £250 to the owner of the mountain bike and £50 to the burglary victim whose belongings were found in his home.

Levent Kemal, mitigating said Booker was now determined to kick his drug habit which had led to much of his offending.

He said: “He takes responsibility for his actions.

“His personal circumstances are difficult to say the least.

“He has become street homeless after the landlord decided to sell the property he and his girlfriend were living in and has struggled to find accommodation meaning he has been living in a tent.

“He has been using class A drugs since 2015 after a bereavement.

“He has a problem with his back and both of his hands are in plaster.

“But he now tells me he has had enough of this lifestyle he has been living and wants to get himself back on track.”