A Worcester man with 91 previous convictions stole cheese and an iPhone just weeks after bring given a suspended prison sentence for house burglary.

Carl Francis selected the £249 phone at Cash Converters and hid it in a bag carried by a woman accomplice.

Three weeks later they went into CostCutters supermarket and took 12 packets of cheddar valued at £56, said prosecutor Peter Grice.

Francis, a 39-year-old publishing firm employee, of Crickley Drive, Warndon, was jailed for 15 months at Worcester Crown Court. He admitted the two thefts.

Mr Justice Butterfield said his life had been blighted by heroin addiction for decades.

He activated the suspended sentence and added five months for the thefts.

Francis was detained by Cash Converters staff when he returned on July 27, the day after the iPhone theft.

He had been caught on CCTV carrying out the crime. He confessed to police that he sold the phone for £40 and was granted bail.

But on August 18, Francis concealed the stolen cheese on his body and walked out after of the shop after his accomplice had taken the packets from a chiller cabinet.

He was arrested a month later and admitted he sold two packets of cheese for £5.

Mr Grice said his police record included forgery, burglary, shoplifting and drug supply. Drug rehabilitation orders had not worked.

Jason Patel, defending, claimed Francis had been given insufficient methadone – the heroin substitute – to curb his addiction.

His mother had welcomed him back into the family home after she had “washed her hands” of him many years ago.

Mr Patel said he was seeking to address his drug issues and at last was achieving some negative drug testing results.