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Three Teesside men - including a father and son - have been jailed for stealing more than £6,000 of bikes in a massive thieving spree.

Michael Bunn, his son Michael George Bunn junior, and Michael Millward targeted high-value bicycles at colleges, railway stations and commercial premises in Teesside and North Yorkshire.

Between September and November 2013, the thieves stole bikes worth a combined £6,068.

They were finally arrested on November 13 when police used a tracker device to trace a stolen bike to Teesside, where Bunn junior, 27, and Millward, 29, were caught riding two of the stolen items.

All three - who have previous convictions for similar offences - were charged with conspiracy to steal but denied the offences, only to plead guilty to multiple charges of theft on the day of trial in December last year.

They appeared at York Crown Court for sentence on Friday when prosecutor Michael Bosomworth told how the thieving trio used bolt croppers to steal locked bikes.

Bunn junior admitted five counts of theft. Some of his victims were students at sixth-form colleges in Scarborough and Darlington.

Among the haul was a £2,000 bicycle and an £800 mountain bike stolen from Scarborough College.

Expensive bikes were also stolen from a building-services company, vehicle-hire firm and kitchen supplier in Darlington.

In a separate incident in January 2015, police spotted Bunn senior, 52, board a train with a stolen bike at Scarborough Railway Station. They arrested him at the Northallerton stop.

Mr Bosomworth said Bunn junior, of Chippenham Road, Easterside, Middlesbrough, had 37 previous convictions for 58 offences, including shoplifting and burglary. Since the bike thefts he had received a suspended prison sentence for other thefts.

Millward, of Slater Walk, Grangetown, Middlesbrough, had 17 previous convictions for 23 offences including theft, battery and vehicle crime.

Bunn senior, of Wicklow Street, Gresham, Middlesbrough, had 38 previous convictions for 61 offences including possession and supply of heroin.

Defence barrister Jane Foley said Bunn junior, a father-of-three who works as a labourer, had stolen to settle a debt with loan sharks.

Alasdair Campbell, for Millward, said his client, who admitted four counts of theft, was desperate to avoid prison because his new partner was about to give birth to their first child.

George Hazel-Owram, for Bunn senior, said the father-of-six, also a labourer, only took part in three of the thefts, although he also admitted handling stolen goods in January 2015.

Judge Rodney Jameson QC told the men: “This was professional offending and caused huge financial loss to the owners.”

He jailed Bunn junior and Millward for 13 months and Bunn senior for 10 months.