A serial burglar has been jailed for three years after breaking into a man’s home in Harrogate and stealing his beloved car – just minutes after trying to invade another house in the same street.

Daniel Prague, 24, stole the victim’s VW Golf, worth £7,500, after breaking into the house to steal the car keys, York Crown Court heard.

The vehicle was then driven off dangerously by Prague’s 21-year-old sidekick Danny Smythe - a former Harrogate Grammar School pupil and sea cadet - as police gave chase.

Prosecutor Zarreen Alam-Cheetham said that Prague and an unknown man first tried to break into another property in Valley Mount in the early hours of August 3 last year by pushing down the front-door handle, but failed to get in.

CCTV footage showed two men wearing face coverings and gloves walking up to the front door at about 2.10am.

Just minutes later, another house in Valley Mount was burgled while the victims were in bed.

Ms Alam-Cheetham said the thieves broke in through a front window which was slightly open and stole the male householder’s car keys from a bowl inside the house. They then drove off in his VW Golf which had been parked outside.

It was at about 2.30am when a police officer spotted the Volkswagen “travelling at speed” along Skipton Road.

The officer followed the vehicle and switched on the blue lights but the Volkswagen, driven by Smythe, failed to stop.

The vehicle struck a kerb and started to “smoke”. It was then driven on the wrong side of the road and shot through a red traffic light as it turned into Hill Top Close in Bilton with a burst front tyre and crashed into a parked car which was damaged.

The stolen Volkswagen was so badly damaged it was later written off by the victim’s insurers.

It finally came to a stop as Smythe and Prague, who was in the passenger seat, got out and ran down a ginnel towards Studley Road. They were duly arrested.

Police searched the vehicle and found a knife in the front-passenger footwell. A subsequent forensic test showed that Prague’s DNA was on the knife handle.

The victim and his partner were woken by police at 3.15am, about an hour after the burglary, when officers told them their had car had been stolen.

Prague, of no fixed address, was charged with attempting to burgle the first home and burglary and theft at the second property. He admitted all three offences.

Smythe, of Pannal Green, Harrogate, was charged with the same offences, as well as dangerous driving. He ultimately admitted dangerous driving, burgling the second property and stealing the car but denied being part of the attempted burglary in the first raid.

The prosecution accepted his not-guilty plea to the attempted burglary.

Smythe and Prague appeared for sentence today (February 26). Prague appeared on a prison-to-court video link after being remanded in custody.

‘Profound impact on my life’

In a victim statement read out by the prosecution, the man whose car had been stolen said the burglary and loss of his vehicle had had a “lasting and profound impact on my life”.

He had come to the UK as an immigrant in search of sanctuary, but the incident had made him “fearful and vulnerable in a country where I had started to feel secure”.

He said the Volkswagen had “deep sentimental value” because it was a gift from his grandfather.

As well as the “severe emotional impact”, the loss of his car had affected him financially and in terms of employability. He was also struggling to sleep.

Ms Alam-Cheetham said that Smythe had 23 previous offences on his record including carrying a knife, attempted robbery, drink-driving and offences against emergency workers.

Prague had 10 previous convictions for 14 offences including four previous burglaries and other acquisitive crime.

Defence barrister Safter Salam, for Smythe, said his client - a former Harrogate Grammar pupil who had gained qualifications including in construction and won Sea Cadets sailing awards - had been “exploited” in the past by “negative influences” because he was immature for his age.

Kelly Clarke, for Prague, said her client planned to “stay away from crime altogether” upon his eventual release from an inevitable prison sentence.

Judge Simon Hickey said that Prague’s offences were aggravated by his record for burglary and jailed him for three years, although he would serve less than half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He noted that Smythe had no burglaries on his record and cited a letter written to him by the defendant’s mother about his pronounced immaturity, known formally as “global development delay”.

Mr Hickey told Smythe:

The judge said that in taking those factors into consideration, he could take the “exceptional course” of suspending the inevitable jail sentence in Smythe’s case.

The two-year jail sentence was suspended for 18 months and Smythe was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was given a two-year motoring ban for the dangerous driving.