A 'PROLIFIC' bike thief and convicted drug dealer with spiralling debts was jailed after appearing back in court for stealing yet more bikes.

Daniel Bullock appeared over prison videolink at Worcester Magistrates Court where he admitted stealing two bikes in Worcester.

The 27-year-old of Bays Meadow, Droitwich stole one bike valued at £350 on August 11 last year and another on August 16 last year worth £800.

We have reported in 2017 how Bullock tried to sell some of the bikes he stole on Facebook and was jailed for 79 weeks at Worcester Crown Court.

Then he admitted two counts of theft of a pedal cycle, one count of theft from a person and a number of drugs offences, two counts of possession of a class A drug (cocaine), two counts of possession of a class A drug (heroin) and one count of possession with intent to supply a class B drug (cannabis).

He took those bicycles from Droitwich and Worcester city centre. In 2018 he was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after admitting to theft from a motor vehicle, handling stolen goods, fraud and breaching a restraining order, imposed when he appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates court.

For the latest bike thefts, magistrates said they would have imposed a 24 week prison sentence but reduced this to 16 weeks to reflect Bullock's early guilty pleas.

He was also ordered to pay £350 in compensation to the owner of the bike that was not recovered. A victim surcharge of £128 was also imposed.

Dean Johnson, the chairman of the bench, said magistrates would not order costs because of their decision to impose an immediate custodial sentence. However, they did make a fines collection order which gives them additional powers to recover the money owed to the court.

Mr Johnson said: "This gentleman is a prolific offender and committed these offences while on licence and he has previous convictions for stealing bicycles."

Asked if he was aware of any fines he already owed, Bullock said he had 'about £2,000 outstanding'. He added: "It's a large sum."

He explained that the cash was deduced from his benefits.