A man who stole an £8,000 sports car from a friend following a visit to her Chesterfield home could be on the road to jail.
Victim Louise Moore had not seen Dean Siddall for some time before he called to see her on July 7 with his girlfriend.
She knew he had previously slipped into drug abuse and told them she was going out that evening and the couple left, town magistrates heard.
“She had left the keys to her Mercedes car in a fruit bowl in the kitchen and the following morning she realised her car was missing,” said Becky Mahon, prosecuting.
The six-year-old Mercedes C200, which had cherished plates ending in LOU, was later picked up by automatic number plate recognition cameras in Lincolnshire.
Ms Mahon said the surveillance cameras revealed that it was in convoy with the car Siddall had driven to Ms Moore’s address.
Siddall, 37, was arrested and told police he had fled Chesterfield after being threatened by Asian men from Sheffield regarding drug debts.
“He said he stole the Mercedes and gave it to them. He did not identify them,” said Ms Mahon.
“He said he knew his friend was going out and he went back and stole the car. His girlfriend had no knowledge of the theft and he told her he had bought it.”
Siddall, formerly of Manor Road, Brimington, and now of Norwich Road, Lowestoft, admitted theft of the car keys and the vehicle.
District Judge Andrew Davison committed him to Derby Crown Court for sentence on October 31, saying the offences were beyond the magistrates court’s powers of punishment.
Mr Davison ordered probation service reports.
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