A THIEF who smashed his way into more than 60 cars in Darlington was jailed yesterday as he vowed to end his crime blitz.

Gary Drummond, 34, stole car compact disc players and radio cassettes to sell for £40 each to fund his heroin habit.

He also drove off in two cars, a BMW and a Fiat, which he crashed before stealing their sound systems, said Christopher Williamson, prosecuting.

Drummond said he planned to reform after spending 13 years of the past 19 in jail, Teesside Crown Court was told.

He took a woman's Y-registered Fiat Punto, which she had only had six weeks, after burgling her home in Abbey Road, Darlington.

Drummond searched the ground floor while she slept.

Police found the Fiat abandoned on Darlington's Inner Ring Road with the driver's window smashed and damage to the bonnet, bumper and door. The car's compact disc player was missing.

Two days later, Drummond snatched the BMW from outside a newsagent's in Haughton Road, Darlington, while the driver was buying a newspaper.

Drummond planned to sell the BMW for £300, but he smashed it into the back of a Hyundai car, writing off both vehicles.

He threw the keys away, telling police that the owner would not be needing them any more, said Mr Williamson.

Drummond's targeted 64 vehicles including radio cassettes from a Volvo and a VW Golf, plus 60 more thefts taken into consideration.

Dan Cordey, for Drummond, said his girlfriend was expecting their fourth child and he wanted to quit drugs and be reunited with his family.

Recorder Simon Bourne-Arton told Drummond: "I don't know what you have thought of your life thus far, but from all that I have read and seen about you it would appear to have been a fairly abysmal and fruitless life because you have spent the best part of it in custody."

Drummond, of Freemans Place, Darlington, was jailed for two years and nine months after he admitted burglary, taking a vehicle without consent, aggravated vehicle taking, two thefts from cars, and two offences of driving while disqualified. He was also banned from driving for two years