Cars thief may walk free over illness

A burglar stole £265,000 of high performance cars after creeping into homes in Staffordshire and the Black Country late at night to find the keys.

But David McTaggart could walk free from jail within weeks after a judge said the public might be better protected if he had treatment for his schizophrenia in the community.

McTaggart, of Wolverhampton, stole cars for the kudos, posing for mobile phone pictures alongside them despite having being released early on licence from a previous prison sentence for similar crimes.

In a 2am raid last April 29, the 22-year-old and his gang struck at a house in Bushbury, Wolverhampton.

The resident was woken by the burglar alarm and looked outside to see his £43,500 Mercedes C320 being driven away.McTaggart and his gang had forced their way in through a kitchen window and stolen the keys and a wallet.

Other raids involved a £24,000 Subaru Impreza taken from Pendeford, Wolverhampton, on May 4. The owner awoke to find her kitchen window had been forced and the keys stolen.

On May 29, a £18,000 BMW was stolen from an address in Staffordshire.

Judge Michael Challinor told Wolverhampton Crown Court that a psychiatric report revealed McTaggart showed classic signs of schizophrenia.

He said if McTaggart, of no fixed address, had not been mentally ill, he would be jailed for four-and-a-half years.

Yesterday McTaggart admitted three burglaries, two thefts and asked for 14 offences to be considered, and sentencing was ad-journed for reports until February 3.