A drug addict with an ASBO got money to fund his habit by taking other people's cars to petrol stations, filling them with petrol and driving off.

At Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, Lee Scotts, a 31-year-old father, from Cottington Road, Hanworth, admitted 12 offences of making off without payment, 11 breaches of his ASBO, three charges of taking and driving without the owner's authority and numerous offences of driving whilst disqualified and without insurance - all between July and September last year.

He was jailed for 14 months in December for similar offences and while in prison was questioned by police investigating offences captured on petrol station CCTV systems, said prosecutor Paola Wilson.

She said: "The car, usually stolen from outside its owner's home, would be driven into a petrol station. The defendant has a large drum which he would fill with petrol and then leave without paying. The value of the stolen petrol was nearly £850 and none of the cars have been recovered."

She added that Scotts was made the subject of an ASBO in July 2004 under which he was banned from going to petrol stations with any container and from going into any retail outlet without the means to pay for purchases.

Defence counsel Daniel Higgins said Scotts was anxious "to wipe the slate clean" as he realised his life could not go on in this way.

Jailing him for 18 months the judge, Recorder Bruce Houlder QC, said Scotts had been given a chance with a community order coupled with drug rehabilitation in November 2005 and failed to take advantage of it.