Two men who sped off on expensive electric mountain bikes minutes after they were left in a garage have each been jailed for six months.

The cycles, together worth more than £5,000, were never recovered, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Steven Doherty, 40, of Sycamore Avenue, Whinmoor, Leeds, and Liam Moore, 32, of Longfield Drive, East Bowling, Bradford, pleaded guilty to burgling the garage on South Side Ridge, Pudsey, on the afternoon of July 8.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye said the owner of the bikes had travelled to the area to visit his son who lived in a house with a garage beneath it.

The victim unloaded the cycles and put them into the garage, leaving the door open.

Within minutes, he looked out of the house window to see the bikes being ridden off down the road. He gave chase but the burglars disappeared and the cycles, worth more than £2,500 each, were never recovered.

Miss Kaye said that Doherty and Moore were caught on high quality CCTV from the house and arrested soon afterwards.

The court heard that both defendants had long criminal records but had been going straight for five years.

Doherty’s list of convictions included a string of burglaries and an aggravated vehicle taking. He had served a four-year jail sentence for house burglary.

Moore had a record for attempted robberies.

Jeremy Hill-Baker, Doherty’s barrister, said he had a bad start in life but in recent years he had turned his life around.

He lost his job as a tyre fitter and was short of money when he took the opportunity to steal the bikes.

Andrew Dallas, for Moore, said he too had done well since 2015. He had suffered a troubled childhood but held down employment until the coronavirus lockdown. He was laid off work and became short of money and depressed.

Moore was not a career burglar, it was a one-off offence, Mr Dallas stated.

Judge Richard Mansell QC said the men had stolen high value bicycles.

“These were not two clapped-out road bikes but bikes worth a lot of money,” he said.

They were taken within minutes of being left in the garage.

Doherty and Moore were driving round the area when they must have seen them being unloaded from the victim’s car.

“Old habits die hard and you couldn’t resist the temptation,” Judge Mansell told the men who were both remanded in HMP Leeds.

Both had made great strides to turn their lives around and their six month prison sentences meant they would be released in a month and able to find jobs and get their lives back on track.