A TEENAGER is back behind bars today for possessing nunchucks and cannabis while on prison licence.Damien Bednall also stole £910 from his pregnant girlfriend to repay a drugs debt left by his mother's former partner who moved to the midlands.

A TEENAGER is back behind bars today for possessing nunchucks and cannabis while on prison licence.

Damien Bednall also stole £910 from his pregnant girlfriend to repay a drugs debt left by his mother's former partner who moved to the midlands.

The 18-year-old was already being pursued by police for breaching licence conditions for a previous conviction when he was arrested for these offences.

Officers stopped him in a car in Shackleton Road, Ipswich, on September 3, and found nunchucks in the boot and cannabis and the stolen money on him.

Bednall, whose address was given as care of the governor, HM Young Offender's Institute, Leicester, admitted possessing controlled drugs, theft and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

Ian Duckworth, mitigating at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court, said: "Bednall was on licence but recalled because there were problems keeping appointments.

"He was with his girlfriend at the time. She is currently pregnant. He took the money to satisfy a drugs debt which relates to his mother's former partner. He (the former partner) has gone back to the midlands."

Mr Duckworth added that the former partner was "well-known" in Ipswich and pressure was being applied to Bednall to satisfy the outstanding debt.

Of the nunchucks, a martial arts weapon comprising two wooden or plastic handles joined by a chain, Mr Duckworth said: "They are see-through plastic with a picture of Bruce Lee. They are more than ornamental."

Sentencing Bednall, bench chairman Berni Stowe said: "We have taken account of your guilty plea, however these offences are serious enough that custody is justified.

"You have a poor record, you are in breach of trust and committed the offences while on licence, and they are aggravated by the fact that you were in possession of an offensive weapon."

Bednall was given eight weeks for the theft, four weeks for possessing the nunchucks, to run concurrently, and no separate penalty for possessing the cannabis. These will run consecutively to the previous sentence.

Mrs Stowe also ordered the destruction of the nunchucks and the cannabis.