Teenager with £5,000 cocaine debt burgled Leeds homes to steal keys to high-powered cars

John-Paul Beadsworth, who is 18, was involved in two break-ins in which high-powered cars were taken from the driveways. He appeared at Leeds Crown Court with another 18-year-old, Jaden Lee Marsden, who was involved in one of the burglaries.

Prosecutor John Batchelor said that Beadsworth had been one of three culprits spotted on home CCTV “scoping” the Ashwood Drive area of Gildersome in the early hours of September 15 last year.

They then broke into a property by forcing a UPVC door as the male and female occupants were asleep upstairs. They took the keys from the kitchen and stole an Audi A3 and a VW Scirocco from the driveway.

The Audi was fitted with a tracker, and was found abandoned a short time later, possibly because the thieves realised it could be traced, Mr Batchelor said.

However, they had also stolen the owner’s wallet containing bank cards which Beadsworth used at a petrol station in Upper Batley about half an hour later to buy energy drinks. CCTV showed him as the passenger in the stolen car, and using the cards.

Five days later, a house on Wynyard Drive in Morley was broken into and an Audi A4 Avant was stolen after the culprits located the keys. The keys to a Ford Transit van were also taken, but not the van itself.

The Audi was seen on the M62 on false plates the next day and was stopped by police after being monitored by the police helicopter. Beadsworth was driving with Marsden as his passenger. Marsden also had a balaclava in his pocket. Beadsworth had both the keys to the Audi and the Transit in his pocket.

Their mobile phones were analysed and put them both in the Wynyard Drive area during the break-in. They both admitted the burglary, while Beadsworth also admitted the Gildersome burglary.

Mitigating for Marsden, Satpal Roth-Sharma said the teenager had been “living a chaotic lifestyle” and had been sofa surfing at the time having fallen out with his family. A probation report said he now showed “genuine remorse”.

For Beadsworth, Mohammed Rafiq said his spiralling cocaine habit had led to the break-ins. He added: “There’s a lack of maturity and it played a big part in this. There was also considerable pressure on him. He ran up a £5,000 debt with his dealer and fell prey to committing theses offences. He is deeply ashamed.”

He said that having been held on remand since September had been “short, sharp treatment.”

The judge, Recorder Sam Green KC gave Marsden, of Chinewood Avenue, Batley, 18 months’ jail, suspended for 18 months, along with 200 hours of unpaid work.

Beadsworth, of Nibshaw Road , Bradford, was given 27 months’ jail. He told him: “Were it not for your youth, you would be going to prison for a lot longer.”