TROUBLED teenager Ryan Wade today woke up in detention after starting an 18-week sentence for stealing from cars.Wade, 19, was sent to a young offenders institute yesterday after going on a spree of stealing stereo equipment from vehicles.

TROUBLED teenager Ryan Wade today woke up in detention after starting an 18-week sentence for stealing from cars.

Wade, 19, was sent to a young offenders institute yesterday after going on a spree of stealing stereo equipment from vehicles.

The teenager, of Byron Road, Ipswich, was sentenced at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court.

It also included punishment for failing to pay more than £2,000 in court fines.

John Hughes, in mitigation for the youngster, said Wade had begun to control what was once a "fascination with drink" to try and spare him prison.

He said: "We are looking a the start of a change in this man and he should be given the opportunity to prove he's maturing and dealing with this fascination with drink."

But bench chairman Bernard Hindes said: "These crimes are so serious only custody is appropriate. You [Wade] are a persistent offender."

Wade - currently the subject of a five-year anti-social behaviour order banning him from certain shops because of repeated thefts - pleaded guilty to damaging and stealing from three vehicles in Spenser Road and Chesterfield Drive, Ipswich, in February.

The crimes left motorists £2,000 out of pocket and were committed before Wade served a prison sentence this year.

The teenager, who admitted to offences after DNA linked him to the scene, says he has cleaned up his act, despite still owing the courts £2432.

Mr Hughes said Wade was short of cash because he had no job at the beginning of the year and spent between £75 and £150 a week on drink and entertaining himself.

He had recently been working for a tree service business but still failed to pay up.