A serial offender who carried out two two-in-one burglaries within a few hours of each other and led police on a chase thought his escapades were ‘fun’.
Dylan Jeff and an accomplice targeted a property on Pragnell Court in Redcar before stealing car keys, a driving licence and cash before driving off in the Honda Jazz.
A couple of hours later, the 20-year-old was involved in the burglary of a house on The Crescent, Redcar, where the car keys for a Toyota Yaris were stolen and the car driven away.
Teesside Crown Court heard how police spotted the stolen Yaris and short, high-speed pursuit ended when the pair jumped out of the car while it was still moving and tried to hide in woodland.
Elisha Marsay, prosecuting, said the pair were quickly captured when police dogs tracked them down in the early hours of August 23 last year.
Dealing with the pursuit, she said: “The defendant reached speeds of up to 70mph in 30mph areas before driving through a red light at 50mph.
“After they went around a roundabout, both the passenger and the driver opened their doors and fled the vehicle before it came to a stop and hid in some woodland.”
The court heard how footage of the police chase was used to identify the defendant as the driver of the stolen vehicle.
When he was searched, he was found to be in possession of the drugs cannabis and Subutex.
The court heard how the defendant had ten convictions for 26 offences on his record including previous offences of driving whilst disqualified and aggravated vehicle taking.
Jeff, of Runswick Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, two counts of burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, two counts of possession of drugs, driving without a licence, driving without insurance, failing to provide a specimen and driving whilst disqualified.
Gary Wood, mitigating, said his client was described as immature for a 20-year-old in his pre-sentence report.
He added: “This defendant is showing some signs of maturity now.
“He realises the court will have little choice but to impose an immediate custodial sentence in this case.”
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Judge Nathan Adams sentenced Jeff to 30 months in a young offenders’ institute and banned him from driving for the same length of time.
“During the preparation of your pre-sentence report, you seemed to think this was a fun thing to do – you didn’t consider the psychological impact on the victims,” he said.
“If you had been a few years older, you would have been looking at a much longer sentence than I have imposed.
“You should consider that when you are released from custody.”
