A man has been jailed for three months after admitting handling more than £500-worth of stolen goods while serving a suspended sentence.
John Thomas Evans ran off when he saw police officers in Chester Place, Peterlee, but they caught up with him and searched a bin liner he was carrying.
It was found to contain an eMachines laptop and tobacco worth £410 in total, which had been s
tolen in a burglary at a property.
There was also a Nokia mobile phone and a lighter worth a total of £105, which had been stolen from another home.
The court heard that on his arrest he said: "I found it. I saw someone stash it."
He was taken to Peterlee Police Station, but made no reply to questioning.
Evans, 22, of Snowdon Place, Peterlee, who was subject to a suspended sentence that was imposed in April for a conviction for dishonesty, admitted two counts of dishonestly receiving stolen goods between October 24 and October 29.
Neil Bennett, defending, said Evans was not involved with the initial burglaries but said he had suspected the goods had been stolen.
He added that Evans had no previous convictions for handling and he was now in a relationship, had his own council accommodation and had made good progress with his community order.
Mr Bennett asked magistrates to consider imposing a curfew as punishment.
But Ian Ferguson, chairman of the magistrates' bench, sentenced Evans to 12 weeks in prison.
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