TWO would-be car thieves have been put behind bars after travelling to Warrington and being caught with a number of suspicious items.

Shortly after 10pm on January 29 this year, officers from Cheshire Police stopped a blue Ford Focus on Manor Road in Lymm.

Following a search of the car, the driver of the vehicle, Craig Chapman, and the passenger Rafal Pinkowski, were both arrested.

Inside the vehicle, officers recovered screwdrivers, balaclavas, a blow torch, pliers, gloves and electrical tape.

The pair were later charged with going equipped for the theft of a motor vehicle, with 40-year-old Pinkowski also charged with obstructing a police officer.

He later admitted both charges, as well as a further count of breaching court bail for failing to attend Chester Crown Court as required.

Chapman, aged 53, meanwhile pleaded guilty to going equipped for the theft of a motor vehicle, as well as driving while disqualified and driving without third-party insurance.

The pair appeared before Chester Crown Court recently to be sentenced by Recorder O'Donohoe.

Chapman, of no fixed abode, but previously of Wythenshawe, was jailed for nine weeks and disqualified from driving for two years.

The court handed a sentence of six weeks in prison to Pinkowski, of Elm Court in Coalville, Leicestershire.

In addition, an order was approved for the items seized by police to be forfeited and destroyed.