A serial thief used a stolen bank card to buy a toy helicopter and a packet of biscuits.
Shaun Patterson took the Barclays debit card after breaking into a property on Balgayview Gardens last October.
The desperate crook made off with a haul of goods worth more than £1,200 including watches, a ring, a laptop and a hoover.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Patterson has a string of previous convictions for theft and he was jailed after pleading guilty to the offences.
On the night of October 29-30, the male and female who own the property were sleeping, the court was told. The male came downstairs before 6am and noticed one of the rear doors was open and that a laptop and jewellery were missing.
Barclays contacted the woman on the same day to inform her that suspicious transactions had been carried out.
After police were called, officers viewed CCTV footage showing Patterson at Farmfoods on St Ann Lane, Lochee, and using a contactless payment from the card to pay for a packet of biscuits worth £1.
On the same day, he used the card to buy headphones worth £20 from HMV on Murraygate and a £28 toy helicopter from The Entertainer at the Wellgate Shopping Centre.
Police also attended a Cash Converters store where Patterson received £70 for one of the stolen watches. None of the remaining goods, worth £1,230, were recovered.
The 42-year-old, a prisoner at HMP Perth, pleaded guilty to the offences on indictment.
Solicitor Theo Finlay said: “He has a long-standing issue with substance misuse and has a formidable record for these sorts of offences.
“His state of wellbeing has improved and he has pleaded guilty from the outset.”
Patterson was jailed for 16 months by Sheriff Alastair Carmichael.
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