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A teenage burglar crashed a stolen taxi while fleeing police after breaking into a home and stealing a set of false teeth.

Connor Kelly - an 18-year-old whose criminal record was today branded "terrible" - added to his list of crimes with a double break-in that focused on stealing his victim's cars.

Judge Steven Everett jailed the dad for his latest exploits and told him his false teeth theft "isn't funny" and had a serious impact on his victim.

Kelly, from Wirral, broke into two homes earlier this year.

In the first, he stole a set of car keys and then made off with his victim's Skoda.

He followed that up with a burglary that saw him and an unnamed accomplice break into a taxi driver's home and steal the keys for his cab.

While taking other items from the property, the pair even made off with his dentures before stealing the taxi and crashing it.

Both offences took place at night and while the victims were at home.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the taxi driver had lost more than a week of work through the damage caused to his vehicle.

But even worse was the impact of the missing false teeth, the loss of which left the driver without a set for months as a new pair were created.

Kelly, of Woodstock Road in Liscard, had a host of previous offences - his record featuring crimes of robbery, attempted robbery and battery.

Judge Everett said the record was "as bad as I've seen" for a man of an 18-year-old.

After highlighting the psychological impact the break-ins had on both victims, the judge brought up the false teeth theft and added: "You had a huge effect on him [the victim]. He would have had to around for months and months without teeth in his mouth and it isn't funny, it isn't funny at all. You had a real effect on his life."

Carmel Wilde, defending, said Kelly was remorseful and had written a letter to the judge.

She said: "For a young man of 18 years it is a mature letter acknowledging how ashamed he is of his actions. He issues an apology to the victims... it may seem empty but he certainly conveys, also through me, his regret for his offending."

Ms Wilde added the teen was using his time in custody to complete academic qualifications.

Sentencing him to two years and eight months for burglary, theft and dangerous driving, Judge Everett said: "If you had been thinking about your daughter on that night you would not have committed these offences. These are terrible offences."

Kelly was also disqualified from driving for five years and four months.