A man caught stealing a pink and white box containing a pushchair was trying to fund his addiction to class A drugs, a court heard.
Christopher Richardson, of no fixed address, admitted theft from Argos in Victoria Lane, Huddersfield, yesterday.
He also pleaded guilty to an earlier theft of two toothbrushes from Tesco in the town on August 16.
And Kirklees magistrates heard that the 33-year-old, addicted to heroin and cocaine, refused to give police a saliva sample following his arrest over the latest theft.
Robert Campbell, prosecuting, said that Richardson was seen running from Argos holding the large box with the pushchair inside.
He was caught when CCTV footage was checked the following day with the help of a witness.
Richardson then declined to co-operate at Huddersfield Police Station following his arrest.
Mr Campbell added: “There was a sort of interview conducted at his cell door where he remained silent.
“He wouldn’t give a sample to see if he was under the influence of drugs.”
Aftaab Hussain, mitigating, said that the thefts were opportunistic and carried out to fund his client’s drug habit.
He explained that since Richardson’s recent release from prison he has remained jobless with no address or source of income.
Mr Hussain told magistrates: “He has a lengthy list of previous convictions and the majority of these have resulted in him serving quite lengthy custodial sentences.
“If we are to stop Mr Richardson’s offending behaviour we need to tackle his drug habit.
“If we curtail this we will curtail his criminal behaviour.”
Magistrates heard that Richardson has since been recalled to prison.
They sentenced him to 21 days in custody which will run concurrent to his existing sentence and so not affect his release date.
He will have to pay £115 upon his release from custody.
