Children are facing Christmas without their father after he broke into his own company and stole £7,000 worth of tyres.

Michael Evitt used his keys to enter Ravensthorpe-based firm Link Tyre Sales - and one of the company’s vehicles to transport the stolen goods.

Evitt, who lives with his partner and six of their children, wept as a district judge jailed him over the offence which he labelled a “serious breach of trust”.

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that Evitt had been at the company for 18 months but had been off sick for two weeks prior to the incident late on October 31.

Kirklees Magistrates' Court, Huddersfield
Kirklees Magistrates' Court, Huddersfield

At midnight he was caught on CCTV pulling up outside the business and opening the gates with his keys.

Evitt, of Backhold Drive, Siddal, Halifax, was identified on the CCTV footage by a colleague and arrested.

He claimed that he was under pressure to repay a money debt he owed.

Emma Haley, mitigating, said: “He’s been working in this industry since the age of 17 and that speaks as to the level of stress and desperation under which he committed these offences.

“He’s been blacklisted by all the local companies and he’s aware of the rumours circulating around this.

“His employment prospects are limited at best.”

Jailing him for 26 weeks, District Judge Michael Fanning told Evitt: “This is a serious breach of trust.

“You had the keys and the security code and there was a level of planning involved.”