A SERIAL offender was jailed after a judge told him he had thrown away his last chance by handling stolen goods and driving whilst banned.

Jack Heffernan, of no fixed address, was in Manchester Crown Court for sentencing after he broke the terms of a suspended sentence he was given in January for burglary and handling stolen goods.

He was arrested again in October and admitted handling stolen goods and driving while banned. He has been in custody since his appearance on October 10 at Bolton Magistrates Court.

Yesterday, Judge Patrick Field QC, said: “It’s worth reminding you what you were undoubtedly told when you last appeared at this court.

“That judge was giving you a chance and what did you do? In effect you took that chance and not only threw it away, but you threw it back into the face of the court by committing these three offences in complete and utter disregard of the chance that you were offered.

“It is in that context that I am asked to give you a further chance and that you realise how wrong you have been and what a judge means when they say you could lose your liberty."

Alistair Reid, prosecuting, told the court that 33-year-old Heffernan was arrested at 11.55am on October 9 for after he was seen driving a Seat Leon.

The car was reported stolen during a burglary on October 4 and was running on cloned licence plates.

Two laptops were discovered in the back of the car, both of which had been stolen from a house earlier that morning.

Mr Reid said Heffernan bought the car for £350 and the two laptops for £100 while he was staying in the Bolton pub run by his mother.

He knew both items were stolen and purchased them from a man who was also staying at the pub.

Heffernan had been issued with a 12-month suspended sentence in January for burglary and receiving stolen goods.

He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 10 days of rehabilitation activities, and adhere to a curfew after the court heard he had 11 previous convictions.

In addition to this, he was disqualified from driving for 12 months for driving without insurance after stealing car keys as a “distraction” burglary.

Heffernan completed just one hour of his unpaid work after failing to attend an appointment on March 10 after he overslept and was told that this was not a reasonable excuse.

He then broke his curfew on March 14 when the monitoring equipment was disconnected and he claimed his girlfriend had kicked him out.

Neil Usher, defending, said that Heffernan had experienced his “first taste of custody” and that the “clanging of the prison gate” had shown him what happens to those who carry on offending.

Heffernan was sentenced to ten months in prison for receiving stolen goods, and will also serve his 12 month suspended sentence consecutively.

He will be released on licence after 11 months, and will be subject to an 18-month disqualification from driving on his release.