Michael John Mascord, 45, of Torulosa Way and formerly of Molong, will spend until at least July 21 in jail for stealing items worth almost $2000 in Coffs Harbour on May 25.

According to police, Mascord went into a cookware store at the Toomina Gardens shopping centre about 1.30pm and took a set of Baccarat knives valued at $699 from a display at the front of the store and left.

He was then captured on CCTV 22 mintutes later getting out of a Mitsubishi Magna at the Park Beach Plaza.

Police said went into a clothing store where he took three t-shirts and a pair of denim-style jeans and placed them in a plastic bag.

He was seen by a manager leaving with the clothing, which had a $157 retail value.

Mascord then went to another cookware store where he took the $1099 six-piece Baccarat cook set from the front of the store.

He walking towards the centre of the shopping centre but was chased by store staff who confronted him.

He returned the cookware to the store but was still charged with the theft. 

Police recognised Mascord from still shots on the CCTV footage and questioned the driver of the Magna on May 26 before going to a house in Noreena Place at 2.50pm that day.

A woman said Mascord left the previous evening and caught a train to Orange but let officers into the house.

Police found the knife set and its box in his bedroom but two knives were missing.

Mascord was arrested and granted bail but failed to attend court in Coffs Harbour on December 4 and was re-arrested after police saw him sitting outside a Bathurst Road petrol station in Orange on January 22 and he has remained in custody since that time.

Solicitor Gerry Stapleton said he committed the offence when he relapsed after abstaining from a methamphetamine addiction and he had a solid history of working in jobs including as a roofer and a rouseabout and he had a gap in his criminal history since 2015.

However, Magistrate David Day said Mascord had previous convictions for similar offences and on one occasion was given a 12-month jail sentence in 2011.

Mr Day gave Mascord two concurrent 12-month jail sentences with six months to be served without parole from January 22 to July 21 for stealing the knives and cookware.

He also gave him an eight-month jail sentence with six-month non-parole period with the same release date for failing to appear in court, and a two-year supervised community correction order for stealing the clothes.