An ‘opportunistic’ repeat offender who has nearly 200 convictions has been sentenced for his latest crime spree.

Michael McDonagh, 46, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft from a motor vehicle, one count of handling stolen goods and seven counts of fraud by false representation at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, November 26.

The court heard from Mr Power, prosecuting, that Mcdonagh has been offending “since the dawn of time” and has 70 convictions for 193 offences, making him a “regular at court.”

His most recent offence involved stealing bank cards from a vehicle in Swindon on Sunday, November 24 and using them to spend a total of £182.98.

Just a week prior to this incident, McDonagh had stolen bank cards from another vehicle and on Thursday, August 1 he had used another bank card which did not belong to him to purchase several bus passes, while having a stolen iPad in his possession, which he tried to sell at Cash Converters in the town centre.

Earlier this year, McDonagh was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for theft, vehicle interference and drug offences and he was given a 12 month community order on Tuesday, November 19 after pleading guilty to further vehicle interference and theft offences, but re-offended just five days later.

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Despite the probation service trying to help him turn his life around, Mr Williams of the probation service said: “His life is so chaotic at the moment that a period of custody might stabilise him.”

In mitigation, Ms Cole, defending, said McDonagh had been sleeping rough and wanted to engage with probation but struggled to sleep at night due to the cold weather, so he missed an appointment during the day to catch up on sleep.

She added there is a “revolving door” when it comes to his pattern of offending, as he had a history of serving short custodial sentences and committing further offences upon release.

Ms Cole explained McDonagh is an “opportunistic” offender, but overall it is “low value” offending and the sentencing guidelines “go out the window” due to his “extensive” criminal history.

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The Magistrate referred to McDonagh’s offending as “persistent” and “continuous” and suggested he has a “wilful and persistent failure to comply with the law”.

He added that the bench did understand the reasons for his chaotic lifestyle but he remained “consistent in committing these offences”.

McDonagh was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison and ordered to pay a £187 surcharge, while his community order has been revoked with no separate penalty.

PC Paul Bezzant said: “McDonagh is a prolific offender and I’m pleased he now faces time behind bars for his crimes.

“It’s important to highlight that McDonagh was only able to commit these crimes as the vehicles were left insecure, including a delivery courier as he collected an order from a fast-food establishment.

“Please don’t make your vehicle an easy target for thieves. Always remember to lock your vehicle, even if you are leaving it only for seconds. It only takes a moment for it to be stolen.

“Don’t leave items such as Christmas presents, or valuables like laptops, mobile phones, handbags, credit cards or cheque books in your car. If it’s unavoidable, put them in the boot and ensure equipment is completely switched off.

“Remove Satnavs, clean away suction marks on windows and make sure car doors, windows and sun roofs are all properly closed and locked.

“Leave absolutely nothing on show - you may know that there is no wallet in your jacket, but a thief will break a window just to check.”

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