A CAREER criminal has been jailed yet again after attempting to break into a Bournemouth fish and chip shop.

Dean Pennett, of Crescent Road in Bournemouth, tried to burgle Chez Fred in Westbourne on November 29.

He admitted the charge at Poole Magistrates' Court last Friday and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after magistrates heard of his previous convictions.

Pennett, 49, was also ordered to pay £20 compensation to the restaurant and £85 costs.

Earlier this year, the defendant was sentenced to four weeks in prison after admitting stealing cash from the Richmond Arms in Charminster Road on Tuesday, January 4.

At the time, he was on licence for a previous burglary, for which he received a three-year jail term, and he was also recalled to prison for that offence.

The earlier burglary happened at a home in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth on December 31 2016. Pennett stole £3,000 from the house, but was apprehended by the occupants as they returned home.

He told them he was searching for his phone - and then gave them his real number.

When the occupants found the cash was missing, they called Pennett and handed the phone number over to police.

The cash was then found in his flat.

At the time of the offence, Pennett was on court bail after admitting another burglary at a home in Ashley Cross on October 15. He broke into a flat above the Cow pub and stole £300, a nine-carat gold signet ring and a platinum wedding ring.

When he was sentenced for both of the burglaries in 2017, Pennett had 31 previous convictions for 51 offences, including 16 burglaries.