A PROFESSIONAL car thief was jailed today after he was caught in a stolen Vauxhall Corsa with a pile of false numberplates.

Ronald Henderson, 27, from Hartlepool, who had more than 150 convictions for dishonesty, was driving it less than three hours after it was stolen from its woman owner's address in the town.

Police stopped it near the Teesside Retail Park in Stockton because Henderson was driving erratically just before midnight on September 21, said prosecutor Jolyon Perks.

Henderson said that he had bought it the day before from an unknown male in exchange for a motorcycle and an amount of cash, Teesside Crown Court was told.

He was disqualified from driving at the time, and he was taken to the police station because there were numerous other numberplates in the Corsa which was also being driven on false plates.

Paul Abrahams, defending, said that Henderson had just spent his longest period in custody after being recalled on licence and he was determined to change his life.

Mr Abrahams said that Henderson was urging that the sentence on him should be deferred for months to give him the chance to prove himself, but the judge rejected the idea.

Judge Michael Taylor told him: "Over a long period of time you can't keep your hands off other people's vehicles.

"You have in excess of 150 convictions for dishonesty, and it is clear that you have not taken advantage of any other non-custodial sentences.

"You are a professional thief of vehicles and that is serious, these are effectively vehicles that are being stolen by you over a long period."

Henderson, of Hamilton Road, Hartlepool, was jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods.