A teenage car thief was today behind bars after being arrested, charged and sentenced in less than 24 hours - and magistrates at Bradford Youth Court have won personal praise from Home Secretary Jack Straw for their speed in dealing with the case, thought to be a national record.

Earlier this week Mr Straw ordered courts across the country to cut the time they were taking to deal with young offenders.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested at 2pm on Wednesday and appeared before Bradford Youth Court at 10.50am yesterday.

He admitted taking a vehicle without consent, driving while disqualified and without insurance. He asked for 13 other offences to be taken into consideration.

By 12.45pm, after an existing pre-sentence report on him was considered, magistrates sentenced the youth to six and a half months in a young offenders' institution.

Mr Straw told the T&A, just hours after announcing a crackdown on crime at the Labour party conference: "We are committed to ensuring speedier youth justice. It is good to see that areas like Bradford are putting this into practice.

"The Crime and Disorder Act, which came into force at midnight yesterday will further help the courts and the police to deal with persistent young criminals more rapidly."

After the case, prosecutor Stephen Uttley said: "We think this is probably a record for the time taken to sentence a young offender.''

David Chandler, clerk to the Bradford justices, said: "In more than 30 years experience I don't know of a case being dealt with quicker than that .

"In fact I would have thought it was one of the fastest sentences ever imposed in a youth court.

"It couldn't have happened before because in youth proceedings you would always need a pre-sentence report and it's only recently that the courts have been allowed to use an existing one rather than having to put off the case to get one prepared. That has speeded it through."

A Home Office spokesman was unable to confirm whether or not it was a record, but added: ''That sounds like an excellent example of the fast-tracking system in place.

''It is exactly what we want to see -- making clear to young people the link between their offending and the sentence that results.''

Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe said: "It is an example of the honouring of our pledge to reduce youth crime and make the police and society's job easier by shortening the time cycle.

"The Act will hopefully stop young people repeating offences because they will be dealt with more swiftly and won't have time to re-offend while waiting for their original case to be heard.

"It will also be an additional deterrent and people will hopefully feel safer in the community."

Superintendent David Collins, in charge of Bradford's Eccleshill police division whose officers arrested the youth, said: "The fast-track scheme - to speed up procedures for youth justice - has been working for some weeks in Bradford in anticipation of the Crime and Disorder Act coming into force and this is a good example which shows it works.

"I am delighted with this case because at the end of the day it actually saves time, and time is money in the criminal justice system.

"It delivers justice in close proximity to the committal of the actual crime taking place. I believe this is something we will see more of in the future."

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