A man found burglars when he got home to his flat in Huddersfield.
Leeds Crown Court heard the victim realised as he approached the basement flat in Trinity Street about midnight on September 16 last year that his security light was on and he could see three males.
Jeremy Hill-Baker prosecuting said one of them still had his foot on the window sill while another was climbing out of the kitchen window. Having been disturbed they made off and the occupant went inside and discovered a jar of cash and a laptop bag had gone.
He had forgotten the jar also contained a spare key for his Scirocco car parked outside. His girlfriend came to stay with him that night and around 6am she realised the car was being driven off.
The ANPR system recorded it being driven in a convoy with a Ford car and the Scirocco was later recovered from a car park in Halifax.
Mr Hill-Baker said police officers subsequently spotted the Ford and began to follow it knowing it had been connected to the theft of the other car. The driver was Kenneth Lockley with Craig Stephen Hill in the passenger seat and it reached 50 mph in Elland Road, a 30mph limit.
The vehicle drove across junctions without slowing down and there came a point where Lockley tried to squeeze it through a space too narrow for it and it struck a pillar. He was arrested trying to get out while Hill ran off and was also later arrested.
Inside the car the officers discovered bolt cutters, a hacksaw, screwdrivers and personal items stolen from inside the Scirocco.
Mark Brookes for Lockley said he had gone into care at 15 and left school without qualifications but was now hoping to do a course as a mechanic at Calderdale College.
Nigel Jameson for Hill said his partner had recently given birth to their first child and he realised his own stupidity in offending had meant he had not been there to support her.
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Lockley, 18, of Halifax admitted burglary, theft of the Scirocco and dangerous driving. He was sent to a young offender institution for a total of 27 months and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Hill, 25 of Turnpike Street, Elland admitted burglary and theft and was jailed for 27 months.
