A PERSISTENT thief from the Borders has been jailed for six months.

Background reports had already been ordered into Patrick Loyden, of Hawick, after he forced open a vehicle in Mill Port, Hawick, on August 11, and stole a laptop, a tablet, a computer mouse, laptop charger and a pair of glasses.

But Jedburgh Sheriff Court heard that the 52-year-old offended again by breaking into a vehicle in the Common Haugh Car Park in Hawick on September 17 and stealing a handbag.

A not guilty plea to assaulting a man in the Common Haugh Car Park on September 17 with a walking stick was accepted by the Crown.

Loyden, of Hillend Drive, was given prison sentences of six months and four months by Sheriff Peter Paterson for the thefts - the jail terms to run concurrently.