LAUGHING and joking with his friends, this is the Hampshire teenager who walked free from court after stealing from his own mother.

Joshua Mansbridge was told by a judge that he had one last chance to turn his life around, having helped himself to more than £2,000.

Southampton Crown Court heard how the 18-year-old, smirking as he was handed a suspended sentence for his crime, had crept into his mother’s home while she slept and stole a bank card.

He found out the PIN and set about stealing the money from the bank account she shared with her partner.

The court was told how on a seperate occasion Mansbridge, from Vale Drive, stole more than £500 in cash from a man who was saving up so he could buy a Saints season ticket for his son.

He also took two satnavs worth a combined £500 and a passport, which was going to be used as identification for the tickets, from the workman’s van.

The court heard how Mansbridge had previously failed to turn up for a hearing in July and had been arrested for that despite pleading guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Roderick Blain told how Mansbridge carried out the theft after getting in to the home of his mum Carol, sometime between February and May this year, and stealing the bank card from her handbag.

Mr Blain said: “He removed the card, used it and returned the card. It had never been known to be missing.”

He added that “substantial sums of money were going missing from her partner’s bank account”.

Mr Blain added that it was not known how Mansbridge got hold of the PIN but because the cash wasn’t stolen, the bank was unable to refund the money.

Arguing that “a period in custody is only going to engage him in further criminal activities”, defending barrister Philip Allman, said that Mansbridge was expecting the birth of his first child with a new girlfriend.

He said she had taken a “pretty strict stance” on Mansbridge’s way of life adding that she has told him “if you don’t sort yourself out you’re not going to see the child”.

With 10 previous convictions for 27 offences, Judge Nicholas Rowland said Mansbridge had an “appalling record”.

Passing sentence, he handed the teenager six months for fraud, four months for theft from a vehicle, two months for possession of cannabis (found on him when he was arrested in June) and two months for failing to turn up to court.

All sentences would run concurrent and were suspended for two years.

Mansbridge was also ordered to pay £900 criminal courts charge, £80 victim surcharge, undergo 150 hours of community service for the fraud and undergo 20 sessions of a behavioural programme.

Judge Rowland warned him: “This is your last chance to turn you life around as you start out on your adult life.”