A "CAREER criminal" from Worcestershire who ransacked isolated rural homes on a burglary spree and evaded police in a 100mph car chase has been sent to jail.

Joseph Smith "drove like a lunatic" after police tried to arrest him following a spate of raids in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, Worcester Crown Court was told.

The 43-year-old, of Wychavon Caravan Park, Evesham Road, Cleeve Prior, deliberately targeted homes set in their own grounds in the countryside, Adam Western, prosecuting, told the court.

On December 30, he struck at a house set in several acres and accessed by a 200-yard drive near Chipping Campden. The owners were on holiday abroad for the New Year celebrations but were able to monitor their home CCTV remotely and spotted a white Transit van outside at about 3pm.

They alerted a neighbour who found a rear patio door had been broken into and the house had been untidily searched with drawers being opened and rifled through. The owners cut short their holiday and returned home to discover a laptop and jewellery including gold and ruby rings and a collection of coins of sentimental value had been taken.

Nine days later on January 8 this year, Smith raided a home in Bestmans Lane, Kempsey, while the owner was out during the day. A sliding door had been smashed and the house had been ransacked with jewellery and cash totalling about £3,500 stolen, Mr Western said.

Smith was traced through a shoe print and some of the property was found at the caravan he was living in. While on bail, on February 5, he carried out a similar raid at an isolated house near Redmarley in Gloucestershire. The owners returned and saw an unfamiliar vehicle on the driveway which drove off as they approached. They discovered the house had been untidily searched, Mr Warren said.

At about 4.50pm on February 16, police saw Smith in Bishop's Cleeve, near Tewkesbury. They tried to arrest him but he backed his Nissan Almera into a police car and raced off, reaching speeds of between 70mph and 90mph on the 40mph A436, overtaking other vehicles and squeezing through narrow gaps, Mr Warren said. He reached 100mph at a crossroads in Beckford and police gave up the chase for safety reasons in Ashton-under-Hill.

Smith was later arrested. He pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary and one of dangerous driving. The court was told he had a string of convictions dating back to the early 1990s and had been sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail since 1994.

Recorder Anthony Lowe said Smith was not just a career burglar, he was a "career criminal".

He told Smith: "There is not much you don't do in this area of crime. The time has come for a sentence to protect the public."

Smith, he said, "drove like a lunatic" and it had been lucky no one was killed.

He jailed Smith for a total of five years and seven months and banned him from driving for three years with an extension period of two years nine months and an extended re-test. His licence was endorsed for the other offences of driving while disqualified, having no licence and no insurance.