Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an affectionate term usu. used to a child by an exasperated parent, a rascal.

1914		Joyce ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room’ Dubliners (1956) 120: ‘It’s no go,’ said Mr Henchy, shaking his head. ‘I asked the little shoeboy [...] Mean little tinker!’.
1948		P. Kavanagh Tarry Flynn (1965) 34: Oh a brazen tinker, if ever there was one. Oh a family of daughters is the last of the last.
1953		K. Tennant Joyful Condemned 124: She’s a little tinker, booked for Hell’s Kitchen for certain.
1987		(con. 1930s) L. Redmond Emerald Square 140: ‘Get inside, yeh common tinker,’ shouted my mother.

2. (US Und.) a novice burglar.

1924

G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 421: Tinker. A poor craftsman. A novice burglar.