Serial thief Jason Scarff wept in the dock when he was sentenced to prison for burglary at a Semington garage.

The 24-year-old, of Pinto Walk, Westbury, was jailed for 22 weeks by magistrates in Chippenham last Thursday, after he pleaded guilty to burglary from Marcos Heritage Spares at Littleton Green last November.

His accomplice, 20-year-old Danny Hitt, of Clearwood View, Chapmanslade, was given a four-month curfew and ordered to pay £500 compensation on February 6.

The pair broke into the vintage vehicle garage on November 8, stealing tools, rare alloys and a filing cabinet containing the garage’s irreplaceable document index, which was never recovered. Scarff’s solicitor Moses Tawo described him as a rolling stone, with “no place to call his home”, and told the court he was acting under the spell of peer pressure.

The probation service recommended 200 hours of unpaid work, but magistrates were informed Scarff had missed six previous appointments, and imposed a custodial sentence.

Chairman of the bench Jane Wilson Ward said: “This burglary was committed on bail, you’ve had previous serious convictions and probation are having some difficulty engaging with you in your order.

“We are sending you to prison for 22 weeks. This offence is so serious only a custodial sentence is justified.”

Scarff carried out the burglary while on bail for the theft of £2,000-worth of roof tiles from Lacock Cricket Club, for which he was given a five-month suspended sentence, and has previously been jailed for other burglaries.

The garage’s office manager Emily MacMath said: “We are glad that he has been put away. We are not going to get the parts back, but at least that’s something.

“We had a payment order come through so hopefully we will get some kind of compensation, but it won’t replace what was taken.”

Scarff and his girlfriend wept as he was taken away to the cells.