TEENAGE tearaway Jason Nicholls is today behind bars after committing a string of offences.Since September he has assaulted two police officers, travelled in a stolen camper van and taken part in a burglary in which more than £60,000 of property was stolen – all while he was subject to a community rehabilitation order for a previous offence.

TEENAGE tearaway Jason Nicholls is today behind bars after committing a string of offences.

Since September he has assaulted two police officers, travelled in a stolen camper van and taken part in a burglary in which more than £60,000 of property was stolen - all while he was subject to a community rehabilitation order for a previous offence.

Judge David Goodin at Ipswich Crown Court heard how, in September, Nicholls, of Nacton Road, joined his friends in a stolen camper van while they drove around Ipswich.

In February, while waiting to be sentenced for that offence, he assaulted two police officers when they picked him up on suspicion of attempted car theft.

The officers took him to the police station and when they stopped their car he became aggressive and tried to escape, kicking and hitting two officers.

He eventually had to be subdued with CS spray.

The court also heard that, in the early hours of April 15, he was arrested for taking part in a burglary of a house in Glemham Drive, Rushmere St Andrew, during which two BMWs, two mobile phones, cash and a camcorder were taken.

Nicholls admitted two charges of assaulting a police officer, one of travelling in a vehicle that had been taken without the owner's consent, and one of breaching a community rehabilitation order.

Now 19, Nicholls, has been a familiar face to police on Ipswich's Gainsborough estate since he was in his early teens.

He was one of the first youths in the area to be served with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), which banned him from entering certain shops and streets.

Michael Stephenson, mitigating, said: "There have been certain difficulties in his family situation but one cannot continue to rely on teenage difficulties and family issues as any sort of justification when one is into adult life."

He added Nicholls' offending had appeared to calm down since the birth of his son last year.

He said: "His teenage years were spent being a nuisance around the Nacton Road estate.

"I can not point out a year where there has not been a criminal offence but I can say in 2004 there were fewer offences than there has been in other years."

Judge Goodin gave Nicholls a 14 month sentence. He will spend half this time in custody and the rest on licence, meaning if he re-offends in this time he will spend the remainder of the sentence in custody as well as being sentenced for the new offence.

Judge Goodin said: "You are still a young man and you have a responsibility now for your young child. I hope that the sentence will leave some light at the end of the tunnel."