A man was asked to take care of a woman’s dog while she was on holiday – but stole her car instead.
Lukasz Baranski then gave police a false name and address when they pulled him over on Leeds Road, Mirfield.
The 27-year-old unlicensed driver was caught after driving the Toyota Corolla around in the dark with no headlights on.
Baranski, also of Leeds Road, pleaded guilty to charges of taking a vehicle without consent, obstructing a police constable and driving without a licence or insurance.
Andy Wills, prosecuting, told Kirklees magistrates that police stopped his vehicle at just before midnight on May 10.
At the time it was not known that the car was stolen, with the officers pulling it over because it was travelling with no lights on after dark.
Baranski claimed that his name was Patrick Dunkikowski and that he lived in Liversedge.
He said he had no identification on him as these had been lost and he was arrested because his identity could not be established.
Baranski was taken to Huddersfield Police Station where he told them who he was and admitted the car was stolen.
Mr Wills told magistrates that the real owner and her partner had gone to Ibiza on holiday for a week.
They departed on May 4 and had asked Baranski, a friend of her partner, to look after their dog.
Mr Wills said: “He was asked to come in and feed the dog but she didn’t extend that permission for him to use her vehicle.
“She hid the keys before she went to Ibiza in the top shelf in her kitchen and left the car locked and secure on the drive.
“When she returned she had a note through her letterbox saying that the car had been seized.”
On May 12 she attended at the police station and discovered that her car had been taken by Baranski and was in the police compound.
Baranski, who attended court in custody after being arrested on a warrant, said he’d used the car to drive to the shop to buy some electricity tokens after running out.
Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 60 hours of unpaid work.
His licence was endorsed with eight penalty points and he will have to pay £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.
