A "parasite" thief was given a "breathtakingly generous" offer of just six months in jail - if he admitted his part in a £10,000 burglary.

It was made a year ago under the legal "goodyear" maximum sentence provision in exchange for a guilty plea.

But Jason Tannahill - who has a criminal record containing 124 offences - turned down the offer, which was brought in to speed up the justice process.

Now he has been left ruing his decision after receiving a two-year jail term for the same burglary.

The 50-year-old eventually changed his plea to guilty before a trial - in which another man was acquitted.

The Judge, Recorder David Jeremy QC, told him: "The judge gave you an exceptionally generous offer of six months. You turned it down... that was an unwise decision."

Tannahill, of St Mary's Walk, Burham, Rochester, took part in a night-time raid on a six-house building site at an old brewery in Tonbridge in May 2019.

The gang broke through gates and then broke into the first house, which was being used as a site office, where they found the keys to the other five houses.

They then escaped with more than £9,200 worth of brand-new dishwashers and washing machines.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the raiders thought they had got clean away after also swiping the CCTV equipment.

But Tannahill was caught by one of the security cameras which showed him wearing gloves and holding a crowbar. He was later recognised by a police officer.

Prosecutor Timothy Forster said that 12 appliances were stolen along with all of the workmen's tools - which were uninsured.

Defence counsel Tom Stern said Tannahill claimed he had just been brought in as a "hired pair of hands" and paid money to help in the break-in.

"He now regrets what he did and was not the driving force behind the burglary. He now has a job in flooring and says it is his first proper job for a very long time."

But the judge said: "That is a slight glimmer of light against the relentless blackness of his previous convictions."

He said that Tannahill first began thieving at 12 and faced his first jail sentence 13 years later.

The court heard that even after his arrest for burglary, Tannahill had subsequently appeared in court and received jail sentences for driving offences.

Recorder Jeremy said that the workmen, who lost all their equipment, had spoken later of their anxiety and distress as the tools were not insured.

He said: "This is yet another case of hard-working people suffering because parasites would rather live off them rather than do hard work themselves."

He jailed the thief for 24 months and ordered a 14-day sentence for possessing amphetamines to run concurrently.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.