'˜One man Peterborough crime wave' jailed by court

Janis Kalinka (27) committed 12 thefts from petrol stations in Peterborough and across the region between March and October this year.

He was caught when police spotted his Nissan Micra on the A47.

Officers saw the car had false number plates - held onto the car with sticky tape.

When his car was stopped, Kalinka - whose address was given in court as HMP Peterborough - initially sped off from officers, but he was finally arrested.

Several containers of fuel were found in the car.

He also gave a positive test for driving under the influence of cocaine, and was found to be driving without insurance or a valid licence.

Peterborough Crown Court heard he carried out two sprees taking petrol without paying - in the first spree stealing fuel worth £1500, and in the second taking fuel worth £600. He also stole a Transit van.

In total, he was charged with 12 counts of making off without payment, five counts of fraudulent use of a registration mark, one count of theft of a vehicle, one count of driving whilst disqualified, two counts of driving with no insurance, one count of driving under the influence of drugs and one count of driving without a valid licence.

Nenad Spasojevic, defending, said Kalinka had carried out the offending as he had been sacked from his job and had no money.

Judge Sean Enright said: “You have been in a small way a one man crime wave.”

Kalinka was given a sentence described by the court clerk as six months and 63 weeks.

He was also banned from driving for two years, with the ban starting at the half way point of the jail term.