A MAN who smashed his way into a showroom hours before he was due in court for an earlier break-in at the garage has been jailed and banned from the roads.

Dean Forrester was locked up for a total of 21 months and disqualified from driving for three months for a spate of auto crimes across Teesside and North Yorkshire.

The 23-year-old, who was first convicted of car-related offences when he was 14, was due in court on December 12 for crimes in Middlesbrough and Whitby.

He had been caught for taking a Vauxhall Corsa from Teesside to the coast and then stealing a Land Rover Freelander to make the return journey, in March last year.

A court heard yesterday that Forrester's friend, Leigh Green, went with him in the stolen cars and tried to steal from a Toyota in Whitby after breaking into it.

Two months later, Forrester broke into an Evans Halshaw dealership in Middlesbrough with another friend and stole a camera and keys belonging to the manager.

Teesside Crown Court was told the pair also forced their way into a compound and drove out a number of cars before they fled with a Jaguar and a Nissan 4x4.

Police received reports about the Jaguar saloon being driven erratically and later found it in Crowland Avenue, while the Nissan was discovered in Burwell Road.

Officers then heard voices coming from a flat with a woman accusing a man of being out burgling, and the man saying the garage was "easy to break into".

Forrester was arrested as he left the flat with keys to the Nissan, and a search of the property uncovered the digital camera, Sue Jacobs, prosecuting, told the court.

Just before midnight on December 11, Forrester was arrested again after a security guard alerted police to him kicking his way into the body shop of the same garage.

Forrester, of Thornton Street, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges of taking vehicles without consent - the Corsa and Land Rover - and two burglaries.

Green, 26, of Hubbard Walk, Middlesbrough, admitted attempted theft from the Toyota and allowing himself to be carried in the two illegally taken cars, in March last year.

He was given a 12-month community order with supervision and a three-month driving ban, and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

His barrister, Stephen Thornton, said: "These were offences committed while under the influence of his peers."

Richard Herrmann, for father-ofone Forrester, said his client may have damaged his chances of setting up a business by again getting involved in crime.

He said: "He is frustrated and disappointed with himself for behaving in the way he has and ruining that, but he is confident he can pick up where he left off when he is released."