A HAPLESS Carlisle thief left a phone showing his photo at a crime scene — and was arrested while riding a bike he pinched, a court heard.

Prolific offender Simon Highmore, 31, is back behind bars after receiving a lengthy jail term for an offending spree which occurred a fortnight after his release from prison.

Highmore stole a pedal cycle from the rear yard of a city home overnight on May 15. “Police have later located the bike,” Sarah Gruffydd, prosecuting, told Carlisle Crown Court, “as the defendant was riding it when arrested.”

An expensive trail bike he stole the following day from another property was located from his address.

Both bikes were returned to their owners.

On the night of May 17, Highmore was tackled by a man who saw him acting suspiciously in the back garden of a neighbour’s address at around midnight. When the witness threatened to raise the alarm, the intruder replied: “Go and phone the police then.”

The female occupant later watched CCTV and saw Highmore first trying to access her address, before returning to shine a torch into the conservatory.

That footage also showed a male wearing a baseball cap and headphones trying to open her vehicle with tools. She later found contents scattered in the road.

She found a phone inside which she initially thought belonged to a work colleague. “It transpires this was in fact a mobile phone belonging to the defendant, and had photographs of him on it,” said Ms Gruffydd.

When arrested Highmore, of Creighton Road, Carlisle, was in possession of torches, gloves and Allen keys. He later admitted seven offences, including attempted burglary, thefts, attempted theft and illegal possession of both cocaine and amphetamine found when he was strip-searched.

Mark Shepherd, defending, said Highmore was unable to deal with “emotional fragility“ having received devastating personal news when released from custody in late April.

“He struggles with emotional resilience and turns to drugs when the going gets tough,” said Mr Shepherd. “Inevitably that leads to acquisitive and drug-related offending. He recognises, at 31 years of age, he needs to break the cycle.”

That was also an observation made by Recorder Kate Bex QC as she jailed him for 18 months having heard of his 125 previous offences — 90 for dishonesty. “I recognise you have had a difficult upbringing,” she said. “You are now 31, you are not a kid any more. You have one of the worst records I have seen, including for this type of offending.”