A ONE-year jail term has been handed out to a 31-year-old man who, with his mother, disposed of stolen goods hours after they were taken from houses in Rowley Regis and Quarry Bank.

Judge Nicholas Webb told Karl Pearsall and 56-year-old Maria Palmer at Wolverhampton Crown Court: "It was quite a well run little operation albeit of short duration."

Palmer went into Cash Converters in Dudley to sell a stolen computer and mobile telephone valued together at £300 while the pair, from Halesowen, of them returned to the same store to try and get rid of a valuable watch that had been taken the same day.

But an employee in the shop became suspicious because they had already been alerted about the missing watch and both Pearsall and Palmer were arrested.

Then, when their home in Round Hill Terrace, was searched, police recovered other stolen property taken in burglaries in a garden incinerator including bank cards and a purse.

Pearsall admitted three charges of handling stolen property and the Judge told him his record of previous convictions was an aggravating feature in the case.

Palmer pleaded guilty to four charges of handling stolen goods and she was given a six-month jail term suspended for two years and placed on supervision for a year.

The Judge also ordered her to obey a six-month curfew between the hours of 8pm and 7am and told them both: "Property was brought to your house to be quickly disposed of within hours of the burglaries. The items found their way to your address and it was your job to get rid of them."

Sunit Sandhu, defending Pearsall, said he committed the offences to fund his drug addiction but he now wanted to put his life back on track and stay out of trouble.

Mukhtar Ubhi, for Palmer, said she had been giving support to her son in light of his drug problem but she had now learned her lesson.

The court was told Pearson had 34 previous offences on his criminal record and a history of house burglary.