A JOYRIDER led police on a high-speed chase around the streets of Hartlepool in a stolen car.
Leon Owens drove at speeds of up to 74mph in a 30mph zone.
The 19-year-old was spotted by police in the Kia Sedona which was reported as stolen from outside the owner’s home.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Owens accelerated to 74mph in Elwick Road where the limit is 30mph after police tried to get him to pull over.
Sharon Elves, prosecuting, said: “He turned into Elwick Road and again reached speeds of 50mph.
“The vehicle headed on to a farm track, switched the headlights off and continued driving before crashing into a solid metal gate causing substantial damage.”
Owens was discovered hiding in a field near Coniscliffe Road on October 29.
The court heard a number of other passengers had also been in the car.
The keys had been lost earlier after the owner returned home from a shopping trip.
Owens admitted aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.
He was also sentenced for burgling a house with a 17-year-old friend by climbing through a hole in the loft.
The victim was the neighbour of Owens’ friend and they took a laptop computer.
Miss Elves said the victim confronted the burglars the next day after hearing of them offer her computer to another neighbour for £30.
The youth, who cannot be named, previously received a nine-month youth referral order for the burglary on March 13 last year.
Owens also admitted the theft of two laptops and an X-box console which he took after staying at a friend’s house on November 24. The laptops were later recovered.
He was admitted having a bladed article after police saw Owens throw a kitchen knife away when officers approached him in Kendal Road on September 12.
He said he had it for his own protection after he had been assaulted.
Ian Mullarkey, mitigating, said Owens “deeply regretted” his part in the burglary and said the driving offences happened when his relationship with his parents had become strained and he moved out.
Mr Mullarkey said that interfered with medication Owens takes for mental health issues and had spent months in custody on remand since his last arrest.
Owens, of Sydenham Road, Hartlepool, was banned for two years and given 12 months detention suspended for two years with probation.
Judge Tony Briggs said: “It is only the fact you have now spent a significant period in custody for a person of your age and record that allows me to make a suspended sentence order.”