JOBLESS Ian Van Meir was so desperate for cash that he drove a known criminal to Melksham to steal a car stereo, only to be caught with the stereo after the other man did a runner, a court heard.

Van Meir, 20, of Hartcliffe, in Bristol, pleaded guilty at Chippenham Magistrates' Court to the theft of a Goodmans car stereo worth £100 on October 29.

He also pleaded guilty to driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and having no insurance.

He was ordered to pay £140 in fines, with £70 costs, and was disqualified from driving for six months.

He already had six points on his licence which he received after being found guilty of driving while uninsured on November 13.

Frank Murphy, prosecuting, said Van Meir was stopped on the A350 in Lacock at about 9pm on October 29, where police discovered the stereo.

Officers had been dealing with a ram-raid at Leekes department store in Melksham when Van Meir was spotted driving off at speed in a white Astra, towards Chippenham from a garage opposite the store.

Mr Murphy said the stereo had been stolen from Roger Coulson at about 7.30pm that evening from the car park at Cooper Avon Tyres, in Melksham.

He said the rear window of Mr Coulson's car had been smashed, and attempts were made to start the car, before making off with the stereo.

When interviewed by police, Van Meir refused to comment on the stereo, and said he had a row with his father in Bristol and had gone out for a drive.

Ian Jackson, defending, said Van Meir had been out of work since February, and was desperately short of money. He had accepted an invitation to drive a man to Melksham, in return for cash.

"Mr Van Meir is not an idiot and knew what the proposition was when it was made to him, but he could not refuse the offer," said Mr Jackson.

He said, once in Melksham, Van Meir parked the car and later the other man had returned with the car stereo.

Mr Jackson said the other man left the 20-year-old on his own, with the stereo, after spotting police officers outside Leekes store.

He said Mr Van Meir refused to name the other man for fear of reprisal attacks.

Mr Jackson told the court he did not believe that Van Meir was guilty of the theft of the stereo, but he had not been given enough evidence to prove otherwise.