A LIFELONG burglar was jailed for three years and three months after a court heard how he burgled a house while the occupants were asleep.

Among his haul was the family's Rover car - and he drove dangerously when police spotted it a couple of days later and gave chase.

Stephen Ralph Fleet, said to have a massive 97 previous convictions, was told by Judge Huw Daniel, sitting at Mold Crown Court, he was entirely selfish and had no regard for the inconvenience and upset he caused his victims.

Fleet, 27, of Treborth Road in Blacon, admitted burglary, dangerous driving and not having insurance.

The court heard he had burgled a house at Mayflower Drive in Marford in August when the occupiers were asleep in bed.

He had taken property valued at £5,000, including the ignition keys to the family's Rover 416 which had been taken from outside.

The following day, police saw a similar vehicle being driven in Sea-land Road, Chester, and when they tried to stop it, the car sped off.

Prosecutor Maria Masselis said Fleet accelerated away and went through a set of traffic lights on red in a bid to get away from officers.

He was driving at 60mph along Sealand Road and eventually lost control on a bend, shot across the road and hit a kerb, mounting the grass verge, Fleet ran off from the vehicle but was arrested later. At one stage the tyre burst but he continued to drive on the metal rim.

It was then confirmed by the officers the vehicle was the stolen car which had been fitted with false number plates.

At that stage, Fleet denied all knowledge of the burglary and said he had been given the use of the car for the day.

When his trainer shoes were matched to foot marks left at the scene of the burglary, he claimed that someone else had been using his trainer shoes, but refused to name that person.

Fleet had 97 previous convictions, 64 of them for dishonesty including previous house burglaries.

The court heard how, in an impact statement, victim Lyn Peers-Bull told how she had to replace the locks after the keys to her home and her husband's car had also been stolen in addition to the keys for her own vehicle.

She had fitted window locks and an alarm but felt nervous - and a prisoner in her own home.

Judge Daniel said: 'That is precisely the court's experience of what happens to people who are burgled.'

The effect on the occupants was clear and they now felt vulnerable in their own home, which was down to the defendant.

When police tried to stop him a couple of days later he drove off, putting himself, his two female passengers, the police and the public at risk of serious injury or worse.

'It is only by the Grace of God that nobody was hurt at the end of the day,' the judge said.

Defending barrister Gareth Roberts said after his client had been released from a previous three-year prison sentence he had tried to rehabilitate himself.

But he lapsed when his girlfriend left, taking their child, and when he ran out of petrol on the way home from Wrexham, decided to burgle a house in order to steal the car.

Fleet was a man who had burgled all his life but he had now changed his attitude, he was remorseful and his father was standing by him for the first time because he had seen a change in his son.

Fleet was planning to follow a plasterer's course while in prison so he could join his father on his release. He also had a steady girlfriend.

The court heard that in addition to the car, Fleet had stolen cash, cheque books and cards, Mrs Peers-Bull's wedding ring, a gent's watch, a digital camera and a mobile phone.