A St Albans man caught driving a stolen Audi A3 convertible was jailed for 28 months today for handling stolen goods and selling some of them on Ebay.

Clinton White, 47, was stopped by the police while driving the car in Borehamwood in January this year. The car had been stolen from an address at Ashford in Middlesex. It was displaying false number plates and its tax disc had been altered.

When the police searched his flat at Thurlstane in St Albans they found jewellery that had been stolen from Bloom Florists in St Albans between 14 and 15 December. They also found PARVA incapacitant spray, St Albans crown court heard.

Prosecutor Sally Mealing-McLeod said White was on bail at the time having been arrested after items stolen from a neighbouring garage at his address were found in the garage he had taken over near his flat. Tools and cleaning equipment taken in a break-in at the neighbour's garage had also been sold by White on Ebay under the alias of Charles Knight.

White of Thurlstane, Lemsford Road, St Albans pleaded guilty to two charges of handling stolen goods, driving without a licence, possession of criminal property, five charges of fraud and one of having a prohibited weapon. He had 24 previous convictions for 66 offences.

Andel Singh, defending, said White suffered with very serious back problems. He said he took "a pragmatic approach" to the case, knowing that he was going immediately to prison. He asked for credit for his guilty pleas.

Jailing him, Recorder Sandeep Kainth said: "You have amassed a number of convictions. Your history of offending does not assist you. An aggravating feature in this case is that you committed offences while on bail."

He also banned White from driving for 18 months.