A PERSISTENT thief who stole a bank card from a motor vehicle, made a number of contactless payments and stole a mountain bike after forcing entry through a side gate has been jailed.

Daniel Upson, 44, pleaded guilty to burglary, fraud by false representation and theft from a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced to 43 weeks in prison at Poole Magistrates’ court.

Between 11.15pm and 11.30pm on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, Upson, who is of no fixed abode, broke into a black Mercedes car that was parked on the driveway of a property in the Westbourne area.

He stole a bank card belonging to the victim from inside.

Then, on Sunday, February 2, he fraudulently bought a number of items throughout the day using a stolen bank card.

These included a bus ticket and food from McDonald’s.

Upson also purchased items from McColl’s on Commercial Road.

All the transactions amounted to a total of £46.87.

Two days later, on Tuesday, February 4, Upson stole a GT mountain bike from a secure underground car park in West Overcliff Drive.

Upson forced entry through a side gate and then rode away on the bike he had stolen.

Officers were able to identify him from CCTV stills from the fraudulent bank card transactions and the burglary.

Detective inspector Ross Graham, of Dorset Police’s priority crime team, said: “We are committed to identifying persistent offenders such as Upson and bringing them before the courts.

DI Graham added that he was pleased to be able to identify Upson as the man responsible and glad he did before he could commit any further offences.

When sentencing, Upson also had a number of other crimes that were taken into consideration.

These were four frauds and four theft offences.

These offences occurred in the Bournemouth and Poole areas over three months, between Saturday, November 16, 2019 and Monday, February 10, 2020.

Upson was sentenced on Wednesday, February 26.