A thief caught with a luxury handbag threatened police, telling an officer 'you watch what happens when I see you on your own'.
Jonathan O'Sullivan, 29, has been locked up for 12 months after he was caught with an expensive Michael Kors bag, which had been stolen from the high end brand's city centre store.
A member of the public had approached an officer who was walking through the city centre, asking him if he was looking for a stolen handbag.
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"Them three have got one," the officer was told.
O'Sullivan was with two others who were seen walking 'with purpose', at about 2.30pm on December 5, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The police officer tried to stop them and O'Sullivan ran off.
He was caught on Cheapside, with the officer using his PAVA spray as he detained him.
O'Sullivan had a brand new Michael Kors handbag worth £171 in his rucksack, which still had the tags on.
He is banned from several areas of the city centre after a criminal behaviour order was imposed previously.
After being caught, O'Sullivan said: "I'm allowed to go where I want, you can't stop me.
"I'm in the city all the time.
"You think you can PAVA me, you watch what happens when I see you on your own."
The bag was returned to the store. A manager said that the firm loses about £3,000 worth of stock per month through shoplifting.
O'Sullivan, who has 32 previous convictions including for burglary and theft, was homeless at the time.
He is 'alone' in the UK as his family live in Ireland.
He has battled a crack cocaine addiction but denied that was why he was in the city, instead saying it was because that is where his contacts are, O'Sullivan's lawyer Kay Driver said.
She said he regrets not contacting his probation officer after previously being released from prison.
He has recently been remanded in HMP Liverpool and wants to make a fresh start, after making a friend there who has offered him accommodation when he is released, the court heard.
O'Sullivan has 10 previous convictions for breaching the order banning him from the city centre, but Ms Driver said he doesn't want to return to Manchester.
"It's apparent that you have paid no heed whatsoever to the terms of that order in the past," the judge, Recorder Daniel Prowse said.
O'Sullivan, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaching a criminal behaviour order and theft.
