Hartlepool teenager who was part of "crime wave" targeting homes and vehicles is locked up at Teesside Crown Court

Jak Smithson, 19, together with others, raided people’s homes and made off with expensive vehicles in Hartlepool and Peterlee.

He was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court after admitting a catalogue of offences including seven attempted burglaries, three burglaries and two vehicle thefts.

On July 25 last year, Smithson was caught on doorbell and CCTV footage trying the doors of homes in Hartlepool in Jesmond Gardens, Valley Drive and Rosedale Avenue.

The same night he successfully gained entry to a woman’s home in Eamont Gardens while she was in when her Renault car was stolen.

Dr Christopher Wood, prosecuting, said Smithson and another male was caught on a neighbour’s CCTV in the front garden.

The same night, Smithson and an accomplice stole two vehicles from a man’s house in Harold Hornsey Close.

Two days later on July 29, he and two other youths went out burgling in Peterlee.

They tried their luck at three homes and were successful in one where an expensive Audi car was stolen.

Dr Wood added: “CCTV footage recovered from each of the addresses provided clear identification of the defendant and his co-accuseds.”

Smithson was arrested and granted court bail, including a night curfew, before he broke it on September 17 when he was caught by a homeowner entering an address in The Crescent, Hartlepool, at 12.30am.

He also admitted making off without payment of £71 fuel from the Shell garage at Middle Warren and driving whilst disqualified on October 5.

In mitigation, the court heard Smithson’s offending was linked to a traumatic brain injury he sustained as a young teenager which meant he was more vulnerable to exploitation and being drawn into crime.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said he was still a “tender age” and had a complex background, adding being held at Durham Prison had been a “very harsh lesson”.

Mr Constantine said Smithson, previously of Helmsley Street, Hartlepool, had also shown some remorse.

Judge Chris Smith said Smithson was part of a two or three-man crime wave.

He sentenced him to 27 months in a young offenders’ institution, saying: “That’s how serious this offending is because there’s a lot of it.”