A prolific thief with 257 offences on his record, 172 of them for dishonesty, has been jailed for stealing again.

Michael Wray had also breached his Criminal Behaviour Order (CRIMBO) many times since it was made in 2017, Bradford Crown Court heard last week.

Wray, 40, was this time in the dock for four offences of theft and three of breaching the CRIMBO.

He pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to stealing a £350 PlayStation 5 from a house in Todwell Lane, Little Horton, Bradford, on January 23; three charges of stealing items worth a total of £260 from the Co-op, and three of breaching the CRIMBO at the stores.

Prosecutor Harry Crowson said the householder Wray stole from had shown him kindness over the years and he repaid it by taking the PlayStation when he was allowed upstairs to use the toilet.

The victim felt betrayed by the theft after what he had done for Wray.

Wray, formerly of York House, Idlethorp Way, Thorpe Edge, Bradford, but now homeless, next stole £35 of meat from the Co-op on Harrogate Road, Bradford, on January 31.

On February 6, he took £160 worth of razor blades from the Co-op on the city’s Fair Road, and two days later he struck again, stealing razor blades and bottles of spirits from the same store.

Each of the shop thefts was mirrored by a breach of the CRIMBO, Mr Crowson told the court.

John Bottomley, Wray’s solicitor advocate, said he had entered prompt guilty pleas.

After his release from prison last year, Wray got a job with the Council as a ground worker. He was in a relationship and had stable accommodation.

But then his partner found she had cancer and had to move out to be cared for elsewhere.

Wray, an entrenched drug user, then struggled to cope, Mr Bottomley told the court.

He missed an appointment at the benefits office and his money was stopped.

Drug dealers began using his flat and asked Wray to “test drugs” for them.

He became homeless and was sleeping in garages, Mr Bottomley said.

Wray was found by a member of the public slumped in a corner suffering from severe malnourishment and drug use.

He was treated in hospital and arrested from there and held on remand in Leeds Prison.

Recorder Darren Preston told Wray: “You have a truly appalling record for offences of theft.”

He labelled him “a prolific thief” and jailed him for eight months.