A man who escaped justice for four years has been jailed.

Tadeusz Rylko fled to his home country of Poland but was caught this month after returning to England.

The 26-year-old had been on the run since failing to turn up at court in January 2007 to face charges of theft and going equipped to steal.

Rylko admitted the charges at Worcester Magistrates Court along with a new one of failing to surrender to bail.

Matt Dodson, prosecuting, said he was seen on CCTV taking perfume worth £30 from Debenhams in January 2007. When police arrested him they found a shoulder bag lined with foil. Mr Dodson said: “It was so any items with security tags would not activate the alarms.”

Rylko told police at the time he was stealing to feed a heroin habit.

Gordon Peters, defending, said Rylko came to the UK in 2006 addicted to heron.

He said: “At the time heroin was ruling his life and unfortunately attending court took a back seat.”

The court heard that Rylko, of no fixed address, had attended court appearances at Birmingham magistrates court but had forgotten the Worcester offences.

He returned to Poland after hearing that his father had died. Mr Peters said: “He attended his father’s funeral in Poland and remained in Poland to provide support to his mother and he was also treated for his heroin dependency.”

Rylko then started a relationship with a woman who came to the UK in 2010 and has returned to the country to be with her.

Mr Peters said: “He fully expected to be arrested at the airport on his arrival because he was aware of the outstanding Birmingham matters. He wasn’t arrested at the airport but was stop-checked in Birmingham earlier this month when both Birmingham and Worcester warrants were referred to.”

Rylko was imprisoned for 16 weeks in Birmingham and had asked for the Worcester offences to come to court while he was in custody.

Mr Peters said: “When he has returned to this country he has resolved to make a fresh start. He has been clean of drugs altogether since the beginning of 2009.”

Magistrates sentenced him to four weeks in prison for shoplifting and four weeks for going equipped to steal.

He was given six weeks in prison for failing to surrender to bail. The sentence will run concurrently to his existing prison sentence.