A boy aged 15 was caught hiding under the floorboards at his home after he was spotted changing the registration plate on a stolen £36,000 Mercedes-Benz C200, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

The youth, now 16, was seen pressing the false plate into position with his foot after the vehicle was taken in a burglary in the Heaton area of Bradford on August 17 last year.

He pleaded guilty to dishonestly handling the Mercedes and jewellery stolen in a house-breaking in Keighley the following day.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, also admitted assaulting a police officer as an emergency worker on August 18 last year.

The court heard that the officer had to go under the floorboards to detain the teenager who kicked him on the shoulder narrowly missing his head.

Prosecutor Adam Walker said the stolen Mercedes was seen parked up in Bradford.

A local resident saw three males acting suspiciously by changing the registration plates. A Nissan Qashqai, worth up to £5,000, stolen in the Keighley housebreaking was also present at the scene.

The Mercedes left the area but was later followed by the police and a pursuit ensued in the Killinghall Road area of Bradford. The youth was not the driver but he was a passenger in the car, the court was told.

When he was apprehended he had gold bangles stolen in the Keighley burglary in his pocket.

The youth, from the Bradford area, had 16 previous convictions for 37 offences, including robbery, dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and three offences of assaulting an emergency worker.

His barrister, Gerald Hendron, said he was 15 at the time of the latest offences and had been locked up in custody for a considerable time.

He was now on medication for his ADHD and knew that if he committed further offences he would be remanded again.

Recorder Anthony Kelbrick sentenced the teenager to a 12-month Youth Rehabilitation Order, with intensive supervision and surveillance, and a month-long curfew order.

Although he had a bad record, the recorder said he had been held in custody for a sub-stantial period of time and this gave him the opportunity to make a fresh start.

He warned him that the commission of further offences would land him back into custo-dy.