A BANNED driver caught in a stolen Mercedes the morning after it was taken in a house raid has been jailed for 16 months.

Ryan Jones, who has a history of burglary and left the orange car a write-off, has also been banned from the road for three years end eight months.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how a house on Ramsbury Walk, Trowbridge, was burgled on the night of May 24.

As well as a Kindle Fire tablet and Blackberry phone the raider also took the keys to the 06-reg Mercedes C200K.

Shortly before 9.30am the following morning a PCSO saw the orange car in the County Way area, being driven by a man with a distinctive tattoo on his neck.

A worker at a nearby tyre fitters said a man he knew as Ryan had brought the vehicle in with a flat.

He told police the man had a scorpion or dragon tattoo on his neck, as Jones does, and was in convoy with a woman in a black BMW.

The Mercedes was then involved in a smash on Castle Street and Jones was seen getting out of it holding a can of cider, which was kept for forensic testing.

When police searched the area they found him in the BMW with the woman driving, and in possession of the tablet and phone taken during the break-in.

Mr Meeke said that as a result of the damage in the smash the car was a write-off, with the victim getting £2,030 from his insurance company after paying the excess.

Jones, of Silver Birch Grove, Trowbridge, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods, aggravated taking without consent, driving while disqualified and without insurance.

The court heard he had a long history of offending including numerous driving offences and burglaries.

An earlier hearing was told that he had just finished a period of post sentence licence and his offender manager had recommended further jail time.

Ellen McAnaw, defending, said that her client had a difficult past and has always struggled with his behaviour.

Having been diagnosed with ADHD at 11 after he had been in and out of primary schools as a result of his behaviour, ending up in a boarding school, where he was bullied.

Jailing him, Recorder Rosie Collins said: "There was a burglary at the end of May. Some personal items were stolen. A set of car keys was among those personal items.

"A Mercedes car was then taken. It was pretty much taken within the course of a burglary, it then happens to be in your possession very soon after: 9am in the morning.

"It was involved in a crash, it received damage which cause it to be a write-off. You were seen walking away from that vehicle carrying alcohol.

"If you owned a car which you paid for and needed for work just imagine how you would feel if that was taken overnight together with your personal items."