A SOLICITOR representing a thief jailed for a string of driving offences told a court prison would 'do him good'.
Mark Lee, of Suffolk Close, Macclesfield, drove off from a petrol station in Congleton after stealing £132.37 worth of fuel, a court heard.
And when officers caught up to 36-year-old Lee, it was found that he was disqualified from driving and had no insurance, the hearing was told.
Lee pleaded guilty to theft, driving while disqualified and with no insurance.
The offences also meant he was in breach of an 18-week suspended prison sentence and a three-year driving disqualification handed to him just nine months before for driving while disqualified.
Beverley Dobson, prosecuting, said: “He drove off from the shell garage in Congleton.
“It was reported to police, who proved it was intentional as his van had false registration plates on.
“CCTV images taken at the station showed that the defendant was the driver of the vehicle.
“The offence was reported to police who later that day saw a blue van that matched the description given on Earlsway in Macclesfield.
“There was a large empty canister that smelled of fuel in the vehicle.
“Lee was arrested and made no comment in a police interview.”
Lesley Herman, defending Lee, told the court that a prison sentence would help her client solve a drug problem.
She said: “He accepts that he is in breach of his suspended sentence.
“He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
“He has gone back to using drugs and custody will do him good.
“I ask that you impose a prison sentence so that when he comes out he will be drug free.
“He does not have an enviable criminal record but it has got better, he is doing better than he has in the past – he wants to try and stop coming before the court.”
Magistrates jailed Lee for 28 weeks and handed him a three-year driving disqualification for the offences.
