DEPRESSED Kevin Jones was so drunk after a night out with his friend he tried to steal a car to drive home in.

The bungling 19-year-old cut the back window out of the Vauxhall Cavalier - parked outside its owner's house - and climbed in to break the steering lock.

But it proved too tricky so he ripped the stereo out instead - only to find the owner had taken the fascia off, making it useless.

Doreece Gunter, prosecuting at Droitwich Magistrates Court, said Jones and his friend Paul Collins spotted Norman Haddock's white Cavalier some time between Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9 and 10.

Between them, they caused £70 damage.

"Police inquiries led them to Jones and he was arrested," Miss Gunter said.

"He admitted that on the evening of the tenth he and Paul Collins were drunk. They decided to steal a car to get home.

"Collins didn't want anything to do with it so Jones cut the window's rubber seal while Collins acted as look-out."

She said Collins, who was fined £100 by Droitwich magistrates on Thursday, October 25 for his part in the crime, helped Jones take the glass out because he wanted to drive to his ex-fiancee's house to see his child.

He then watched Jones, of Cherwell Close, Warndon, climb in and try to break the steering lock and rip the stereo out.

Juliet Simms, defending, said Jones was upset about a split with his girlfriend.

"He was worried he wouldn't be able to see his one-year-old son," she said. "He was depressed and down."

She said Jones' last offence had been in June, 2000, for which he had served time in a Young Offenders Institution.

Jones admitted interfering with a motor vehicle with the intention of the theft of the vehicle, or theft of anything from the vehicle, or to take the vehicle without the owner's consent.

The case was adjourned until Friday, November 30.