A JAILBIRD who stole £50 from his gran after she allowed him to sleep on her sofa following his release from prison has been jailed for a year.

The woman said she was now scared and wary of Levi McDonald, adding: “It’s the final straw”.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, Emma Atkinson said the victim noticed a bank card had been taken from her purse on September 27 last year.

She rang her bank to cancel the card and was told £50 had been withdrawn.

In a statement the victim said she believed McDonald would continue to steal, although Ms Atkinson said she did not now wish to pursue a restraining order in respect of him.

McDonald, from Northgate, Guisborough, east Cleveland, admitted stealing the cash along with offences of burglary and handling stolen goods.

The 20-year-old was responsible for a break-in in which two mountain bikes were taken and was later found by police on one of the bikes.

The court was also told about a series of thefts from garages in Guisborough, with a number of items being recovered from McDonald’s home.

These included pedal bikes, a water cooler, alloy wheels and tools.

Simon Walker, mitigating, said all the items had been recovered, although the cash had not been returned.

He said McDonald’s motivation for his thieving was to “pay off the sins of his past”, specifically a large drug debt.

The defendant, who had been in custody since last November, had a job waiting for him when he came out, Mr Walker said, and he also suggested his family were now prepared to rally round him.

Judge Tony Briggs said the cash theft was a mean and serious offence. He also said McDonald had “caused havoc” in his local community and not responded to previous community-based punishments.