A TEEN who stole an expensive car from a Hullbridge home was lambasted in court and told to stop behaving “like an outlaw”.

Lemar Roberts-Lawrence was arrested by police after crashing an Audi which he stole from the home in the middle of the night.

The keys to an Audi Q3, worth £34,000, and a Ford Fiesta, worth £10,000, had been stolen from a key box in the front room of the home on November 14, 2019.

The owners were asleep at the time but the cars were caught driving in convey at 3am the next morning.

Police in Dagenham spotted the cars when they started to pick up speed. Roberts-Lawrence, 18, of Rush Green Road, Romford, was driving the Audi.

Prosecuting at Southend Crown Court, Harry O’Sullivan said: “The Ford and Audi went onto the A13 driving at 90 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour zone, passing through red traffic lights narrowly avoiding a collision and going the wrong way around a roundabout.

“There was a collision with another road user and then the Audi crashed into a traffic light pole in a central reservation.

“The first to leave the car was the defendant.

“In the period since forensic examination found DNA had deposits on the airbags.”

Roberts-Lawrence went admitted aggravated vehicle taking.

Mitigation said he had not offended since the incident and has a two month old child.

However, Recorder Elroy Claxton said that Roberts-Lawrence needed to learn “to stop stealing vehicles”.

He said: “Have you no shame that you keep bringing your mum to court each time? Are you not ashamed?

“You are very close to being sent to jail. People in jail nowadays are in their cells for 23 hours a day because of the Covid problems.

“If you went there you would be separated from your mother and child.

“You need to realise you are not an outlaw, and even if you were you’re not a very good one, as you’re here.”

Roberts-Lawrnce was given 12 months prison suspended for two years and 200 hours unpaid work.

He will have a four month curfew from 7pm to 6am.