A FERAL teenager with an “appalling” record refused to come from his cell when he was due to be sentenced for a catalogue of crimes yesterday.

Jake Smith was appearing at Teesside Crown Court via a live video-link from Holm House Prison in Stockton along with co-accused Josh Scholick, 23.

Smith, 18, of Darlington, was said by his barrister, Mark Styles, to have a “serious attitude problem” who said: “He really needs to attempt to sort himself out.”

In the teenager’s absence, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, jailed him for four years and nine months, and told Scholick, of Hartlepool: “If you see him, you can tell him.”

The court heard how Smith, Scholick and another man from a recovery centre in Stockton bumped into a vulnerable and drunk 23-year-old last September.

The victim - who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - said he had lost his friends.

After things had initially seemed friendly, Smith and Scholick attacked him, and the teenager rifled his pockets, taking his money and mobile phone.

In March this year, Smith sneaked into a house in Witbank Road, Darlington, and stole a set of keys for a Ford Focus which was parked outside.

Prosecutor Jonathan Walker said he was intoxicated but would not give a breath sample when police stopped him after a high-speed drive in the dark with the car’s lights off.

Defence lawyer Mr Styles told the court: “His pre-sentence report makes fairly dismal reading. He was ejected from the family home at 15 and seems to have led a feral existence from then onwards.

“The robbery is deeply unattractive. There seems to be a pattern of bullying in his background.”

He has convictions for burglaries, street muggings, thefts and multiple driving matters - and appeared in court a dozen times in the last year alone.

Scholick was the subject of a suspended prison sentence for burglary and a conditional discharge for shoplifting when he took part in the Stockton attack.

He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, as well as breaching the orders, and was jailed for a total of 18 months.

Smith, of Beaconsfield Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to robbery, theft, burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and being drunk and disorderly.

Andrew Teate said his client Scholick, of Wynyard Road, Hartlepool,was prepared to give evidence against Smith about the robbery, telling police: “I’m not a grass or nowt, but I’m definitely not getting done for owt like that.”

During his escapade in the stolen car, Smith reached speeds of 80mph on the outskirts of Darlington, and scraped along the side of a moving taxi.

The Ford squeezed between the cab and the kerb on the A167 and punctured its tyres, but Smith continued to race around, causing loud bangs before he was stopped.