A boy aged 16 has been locked up for blowtorching the lock off a house in a targeted raid to steal a BMW car to sell on.

The Bradford teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded guilty to housebreaking, theft of a vehicle and going equipped for burglary.

Sentencing him to a 12 month detention and training order, Judge Robert Bartfield said: “The public would lose confidence in the law if planned Hanoi burglaries like this did not result in prison.”

Prosecutor Anthony Moore told Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday the boy was 15 when he and three accomplices burgled a detached family home in Glen Rise, Baildon, overnight between August 18 and 19.

The BMW car he wanted was not there so the gang stole the keys to a VW Golf and made off in that, raiding two phones, an iPad and a games console from the property.

Mr Moore said that the intruders gained entry by burning off the front door lock while the householders were asleep. Scorch marks were found on the door and the broken lock was discarded nearby.

Later that morning, a member of the public raised the alarm after seeing the VW Golf bearing the unlikely registration number of OK 86. The four burglars, who were asleep in the vehicle, refused to unlock the doors so the police smashed a window and physically removed them.

As he was pulled from the car, the defendant dropped a blowtorch, Mr Moore said.

Mole grips, gloves and screwdrivers were seized from the vehicle.

The teenager refused to answer police questions, saying he had been taken for a drive and knew nothing about a burglary.

The court heard that he was made the subject of a referral order at the youth court on June 25 for conspiracy to burgle, two offences of house burglary and driving offences.

The boy’s barrister, Jessica Heggie, said he was motivated to change his ways.

He was immature for his age and had been mixing with the wrong crowd. He had moved away from that older group of males and was studying at college.

Judge Bartfield said the boy targeted the house because he knew the occupants had a BMW that he wanted to steal and sell.

“You took a full part in the burglary. The door lock was scorched. You used a blowtorch to get in and steal the car keys,” he said.

When the police came to arrest him, he was stupid enough to resist.

“The burglary was certainly well thought out and had you not been so careless as to fall asleep in the car, you might have got away with it,” Judge Bartfield said.