DESCRIBED by a judge as having been a "thoroughly dishonest man" during the summer and autumn of 2010, Nathan Edwards, 30, was jailed for 16 months at Truro Crown Court.

Edwards, of the Parc an Cady Estate, St Buryan, had earlier admitted four charges of handling stolen goods, including a jet ski, an outboard motor and bicycles.

The jet ski, valued at £1,800 was recovered from a field Edwards rented at St Buryan. He had attempted to sell it for between £500 and £1,000. The outboard, worth £2,500, had not been recovered.

Philip Lee, for the prosecution, said Edwards had 18 convictions for 36 offences during the past ten years.

They include an unprovoked assault at a party in St Just last year and obstructing a police officer and using threatening words or behaviour at the Commercial Hotel in St Just on Christmas Eve 2010 which led to him being Tasered.

Barrie van den Berg, for the defence, said that drink and drugs had been involved in Edwards' lifestyle in 2010 but he had changed. He no longer used drugs, drank very little and had rented a garage and was trying to build a legitimate business.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC told Edwards that in 2010 he had been a professional handler, a fence for valuable marine engines and motorcycles.

"Today is the day of reckoning," he declared. "You were in possession of these items very soon after they were stolen and you were involved in the selling of them.

"There has been no dishonesty since then, no drugs and you have moderated your drinking. But the scale of your dishonesty leaves me with no alternative but to impose an immediate custodial sentence."