Those people who have had their cars taken by teenagers, driven at high speed around estates just for the fun of it and left trashed might wonder why the law does not come down harder on the young criminals than it did on 18-year-old Steven Stewart and Ryan Barraclough who admitted more than 200 "joyriding" offences when they appeared before Bradford magistrates this week.

There will be many who consider that the only fitting punishment for them would be a custodial one. After all, on top of the distress and inconvenience caused to the owners of the cars there has been the risk to other road users and pedestrians created by the youths driving recklessly and at high speed in cars with which they are unfamiliar.

The police say that the bulk of car thefts is down to little more than a handful of youngsters, with a spokesman adding that "If you take these people out of the equation you have precious few car thefts left." The question which is bound to be widely asked is: is the best way of taking them out of the equation by giving them a custodial sentence or by using the "disruption strategy" the police are to employ after magistrates imposed community rehabilitation and punishment orders on the youths?

By arresting them, trying to educate them about the risks they are running (to themselves as well as to others), and then visiting them on a daily basis to check on their movements, the police say they put effective pressure on the young car thieves. Just how effective remains to be seen.