A BAIL bandit who has spent half of the past decade in prison committed a catalogue of crimes after he was arrested and released by police.

Kevin Howe was bailed four times in less than four months, and went on to commit more than a dozen offences in County Durham.

A judge said it was a shame that the 23-year-old was not remanded in custody on any of the occasions he was caught during his stealing spree.

The judge ordered that Howe be spared jail, but placed under probation service supervision.

Howe started his latest period of offending on April 10 when he was caught with £15 worth of amphetamines in his car in Bishop Auckland.

He was bailed, but was linked to a theft at the Tindale Crossing pub, in the area, nine days later.

His fingerprints were left after £35 cash was stolen from a machine in the ladies' toilets.

On May 8, Howe stole a £400 Ford Mondeo from Woodhouses, in Bishop Auckland, and four days later, police caught him after a man was seen acting suspiciously at a council depot in Barnard Castle.

Teesside Crown Court heard that police again bailed Howe, but on May 15, he failed to turn up for a hearing before magistrates in Darlington.

On May 21, an electric saw, generator and grinder worth £450 were stolen from a compound at Eldon Hope, in Bishop Auckland.

Howe stole a reflective jacket from a portable building between May 25 and May 28, and again failed to attend a magistrates' court hearing on May 25.

On June 14, he stole a G-registration Ford Transit van from Tindale Crescent, Bishop Auckland, but was caught by police two days later.

Howe admitted taking the £500 van and said he used it to transport scrap, but was again freed to carry on with his spree.

Late at night on June 24, Howe was caught in Bishop Auckland with two bags containing hacksaws, screwdrivers and pliers.

As he was being released from Darlington Police Station, Howe swapped his old trainers for a pair belonging to another prisoner left outside his cell.

Howe admitted possession of Class B drugs, four counts of theft, attempted theft, two counts of going equipped for theft, two burglaries and two charges of failing to respond to bail, and asked for the theft of a motorbike to be taken into consideration.

Judge Peter Armstrong imposed a ten-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered him to be supervised for two years. Howe, of Dalton Avenue, Bishop Auckland, was also ordered to undergo nine months of drug rehabilitation.

The court heard that recovering heroin addict Howe had spent four years behind bars since the start of 2000 for similar offences