A bike thief has finally started serving a jail term - after going on the run.
Jobless Kyle Meli did not wait for city magistrates to announce the sentence after he admitted stealing four bikes.
They issued a warrant for his arrest and he was detained 11 days later. Now he has been given a 12-week prison term and must pay £1,012 compensation to four cycle owners.
While he was in the cells on Bank Holiday Monday, the matter was handled by his solicitor and he was taken to prison.
Meli, 23, of Harwill Crescent, Aspley will serve half the term before being released on licence.
The cycles were worth £3,750 and vanished from outside the Queen's Medical Centre, the University of Nottingham and from Central Avenue, West Bridgford.
Shoplifter headbutted PCSO and kicked police officer in Nottingham city centre
Nottingham JPs had originally adjourned to discuss the case. During the break, Meli told court staff he was going to the toilet. When the three magistrates returned, he had gone.
Solicitor James Buckley, mitigating, told them: "Instead of going to the lavatory, he seems to have left the building."
Presiding JP Kevin Beardsall said: "This was a continued screed of theft, to some degree sophisticated and planned."
For the next two years, he is banned from going onto the campus of the University of Nottingham.
Ann Barrett, prosecuting, said that a £350 bicycle was taken from outside the Queen's Medical Centre on December 14. Six days later, two cycles went from Central Avenue, West Bridgford.
And on Boxing Day, a £900 model went from outside the university. Two of the stolen machines were electric bikes costing £1,250 each.
One victim said: "I have had to use public transport which takes 45 minutes whereas it takes ten minutes on a bike. It is costing me £80 monthly to travel by bus and nothing by bike.
"There is a lost opportunity for exercise," he added while another victim said it had caused "inconvenience more than anything else."
Meli also pleaded guilty to having cannabis and failing to give a blood sample when suspected of driving a vehicle on June 24 last year.
Mr Buckley added: "It is simply people cutting chains from bikes and riding away. There were no vehicles involved."
Revealed: The average weight of newborn babies in Nottingham for 2017/18
This is what it's like to live right next to Nottingham's tram tracks
Girl, 16, spent Bank Holiday weekend in police custody after removing electronic tag
