Van-theft man has 'learned his lesson'

Benjamin Reynolds, of Hunslet, Leeds, stole the commercial van, worth about 10,000, after seeing it on Town Street, Middleton, Leeds, in April this year, Leeds Crown Court was told.

"He got into it and drove it off," Jeremy Hill-Baker, prosecuting, said.

"About half an hour later it was spotted and followed by a police car. He parked the van and ran off on a sports field where he was apprehended."

Reynolds has since been offered a job as a security officer looking after the site of a car business in Leeds for 150 per week, Tahir Khan, mitigating, told the court.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said: "I'm sure you have learned your lesson from this foolish and isolated incident. I'm satisfied this is unlikely to happen again."

He added: "This was out of character and this was a spur of the moment offence."

Reynolds, of Penny Lane Way, Hunslet, Leeds, has no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to theft at an earlier hearing.

He was given a 12 month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 300.