A serial Isle of Wight shop thief, who ‘welcomes custody’ and breached his seven-day-old suspended sentence to steal steak to sell for booze, has been jailed.

Jason Blake, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to theft from a shop and using threatening, abusive or insulting words/behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress at the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, March 5,

Lauren Stone, prosecuting, said the 37-year-old arrived at his friend’s flat in Ventnor on February 10 and spotted a woman known to him outside the communal door and hurled verbal abuse at her.

Ms Stone told the court the victim said it made her feel distressed.

On March 1, Blake visited the Co-operative store on Pier Street, Ventnor, at around 9.10am and left the shop with six steaks, valued at £33, without paying.

The theft was caught on CCTV and Blake identified.

The Co-op theft was in breach of a suspended sentence handed to Blake just a week earlier on February 23, after he pleaded guilty to 14 shop theft offences in Ventnor, committed over a four-and-a-half-month period.

Michael McGoldrick, defending, said his client was in an “incredibly difficult situation.”

“He almost welcomes custody,” Mr McGoldrick told the court, explaining that Blake is currently homeless and believes the only way he can get help is to go to prison.

On February 29, a day before the Co-op theft, Blake met with family members to scatter his mother’s ashes before “hitting the bottle” and stealing the steak to fund more alcohol.

Magistrates handed Blake a 13-week prison sentence and ordered him to pay a £154 surcharge.