A MAN smashed the back window of a disabled man’s car in order to steal £15 in loose change, a court heard today (Thursday, August 21).

Kieron Wynn, of Church Lane, Ferryhill, appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court charged with theft from a motor vehicle and criminal damage. He pleaded guilty to both offences.

Rachel Dodsworth, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the victim had parked his 14 plate BMW Mini in Ferryhill while he went for a few drinks, on Sunday, August 17.

Inside the Motability car were various pound coins, adding up to £15.

He returned to find the rear window of his car smashed, and the money that was in a central compartment missing.

The man, who is registered as disabled, has no left arm and limited movement in his left leg after he was a passenger in a car accident.

In a statement read by the prosecution, the victim said he was absolutely devastated as his car gives him the chance to do things with his family.

It read: “I don’t know what to do now, I keep thinking why me.”

John Clish, mitigating, asked for credit to be given to Wynn for entering an early guilty plea, before adding: “He has substance abuse issues and has in the past used heroin. At one point he did find himself in employment but that is no longer the case.

“He broke into the car in broad daylight which indicates the level of desperation the defendant found himself in, it was only £15 and he smashed the window in order to reach the coins that he could see in the vehicle.”

The 21-year-old, who was previously receiving Job Seekers Allowance, was told by the magistrate that the damage he had caused to the car would be an expensive job to repair and that he must consider the impact it had had on the victim.

Wynn interrupted court proceedings and was asked by magistrates to be quiet on several occasions, before being escorted out of the court room and down to the cells after shouting abuse, telling the chair of the bench to f*** off and calling him a f****** pleb.

The defendant was sentenced to 12 weeks for each offence, reduced to eight weeks for his early guilty plea. The sentences will run concurrently.