TWO men have been locked up for a house burglary where they drove off with the owner’s car.

Luke Linden, 18, and Joshua Whiteley, 20, were part of a gang of three who used tools to break the lock on the front door of a house in Brompton Road, East Bowling, while the owner was sleeping and stole the keys to their white Vauxhall Astra.

The group, who were all wearing dark tracksuits and gloves, were spotted by a nearby resident who saw the car do a U-turn, who called police at around 2.20am.

Officers arrived within five minutes to arrest the gang, who were hiding at first and a police helicopter was used to locate them, in the incident on January 27, 2020.

The third member of the group who committed the burglary, a youth, was dealt with at a prior hearing.

The bunch of keys, featuring the keys to the Astra, were the only items stolen from the property by the gang.

Linden, of Mannville Terrace, Bradford, was also sentenced for being part of a gang of three who broke into a lounge at Odsal Stadium, the former home of the Bradford Bulls.

The group caused £20,000 worth of damage to a large touchscreen TV, doors and laptops.

They also drank from spirit bottles that were behind the bar in the lounge and stole four iPads on their way out.

All three were wearing gloves and face coverings during the incident, on July 31, 2018, but Linden’s face was captured briefly on CCTV when he took his covering off.

He refused to comment at a subsequent police interview.

Linden, who was 17 at the time of the Brompton Road burglary, had 48 previous offences to his name including nine for burglary, Bradford Crown Court heard on Thursday, January 28.

Linden was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a young offender institution. Both had pleaded guilty at previous hearings.

Whitely, of Blenkinsopp Court, Morley, was sentenced to two years in a young offender institution. He was 19 at the time of the Brompton Road burglary.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Andrew Hatton said: “It occurred in the early hours of the morning, while the occupiers of the house were sleeping.

“The car was spotted a little while later behaving suspiciously and an observant member of the public called police.

“You were equipped for burglary.

“I have to reflect your young age at the time of the offences.”

Safter Salam, mitigating for Linden, said Linden committed his first burglary aged 12 and was used by older men in such incidents as he was small in stature.

Linden also believed he would receive cannabis from these older men as a reward for committing the burglaries.

Clare Walsh, mitigating for Whiteley, said he committed burglaries to fund his own cannabis habit and had run into debt, which has since been paid off and he is now remorseful.

Both were sentenced for three charges of taking a Vauxhall Astra without consent and entering as a trespasser with intent to steal and for stealing car keys from the house.

Linden was also sentenced for entering Odsal Stadium as a trespasser and stealing the iPads.

Meanwhile, Whiteley was also disqualified from driving for 18 months, while Linden was banned from driving for 18 months, extended by 15 months.