A teenager who smashed a stolen BMW into the living room of a family home in Bradford has been locked up for more than four years.

James Abson, 18, caused severe damage when he ploughed into the detached house of Samantha Wells and Andrew Mann in Reevy Road, Buttershaw, as they slept.

The couple were left with a £50,000 repair nightmare – less than a week before their wedding day.

Samantha, 45, and Andrew, 49, along with his young son, were asleep upstairs when convicted burglar Abson crashed into the house at 3am on November 19.

Prosecutor Camille Morland told Bradford Crown Court yesterday that the family had to be urgently evacuated from the property due to the damage.

The court was told Abson had stolen the keys to the high-powered vehicle during a break-in at a house in Stump Cross, Halifax, but later that night he lost control of the BMW 318.

It caused extensive damage to Miss Wells’s Volkswagen car, which was parked outside, and two other vehicles before ploughing into the house.

The family had to move into a hotel for three weeks before being placed in another detached property on a six-month rental. Miss Morland said during that time the couple were trying to arrange their wedding and it was very stressful.

She said they had to book hotel rooms for wedding guests because their own home was unsafe.

At the time, Miss Wells, a nurse at Airedale General Hospital, said: “It is not perfect, but we are making the best of it and looking forward to the wedding and Andrew's 50th birthday.

“What else we can we do? There is no point sitting around moping.

“We just have to wait for everyone to complete their assessments of the damage and get on with life.”

She added: “The cost to repair the house is a lot more than we initially expected. It is so expensive because the top of the bedroom wall has shifted and so the roof will need to be replaced.

“The wall will also need to be taken down and built back up. It is a big job and we are going up to the house every day.”

The silver BMW smashed through a bay window and came to rest in the living room.

A gaping hole was left in the front of the property and there was a risk the first floor could collapse.

Emergency contractors from Bradford Council were called out at 4.30am and spent around eight hours making the building safe.

Abson, now 19, of Moorstone Place, Halifax, admitted burglary and aggravated vehicle taking.

At the time of the crash he was on bail for racially aggravated assault by beating and racially aggravated criminal damage.

Abson had also breached an anti-social behaviour order for the fifth time.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said Abson was showing the hallmarks of a dangerous and persistent criminal.

He said: “You are wholly the author of your own misfortune by being rebellious, disrespectful and angry.”

Abson’s barrister, Ken Green, said he had been drinking to excess on the night of the burglary.

Mr Green said his client was fortunate not to have injured anybody in the crash, but he conceded that was more by luck than judgement.

Abson was a “three strikes burglar.” He was locked up for the minimum 876 days.

He was sentenced to an additional 15 months in a young offender institution for the aggravated vehicle taking and an extra eight months for a disturbance at a Halifax takeaway.

He was also banned from driving for five years and ordered to take an extended driving test at the end of the disqualification.