A BURGLAR who stole a man's car and wrote it off in a crash was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail and banned from driving for five years.

Sean Nelson, 18, entered a house in Kielder Drive, Darlington, and stole a set of keys from the hall table before driving off in a Citroen saloon, worth £12,000.

Andrew MacFaul, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court yesterday that car owner Thomas Russell tried to stop Nelson, but he had to jump out of the way of the vehicle.

Police later detained Nelson on the A66 road at Little Burdon roundabout after the Citroen collided with a lorry and ended up as a write-off.

Nelson told police that he sneaked into the unlocked house and took the keys before driving off.

Robert Terry, defending, said it was an opportunist theft by Nelson who had since shown an insight into his offending and was determined to do something about his problem on his release.

Nelson, of Jura Drive, Darlington, was sentenced to 30 months' detention with 200 days left from a previous sentence to run consecutively after he pleaded guilty to burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving, on January 29.