A self-confessed drug addict who ran away without paying a $102 taxi fare and later stole a car made it easy for Police to catch him, Magistrates' Court heard this week.

For Joseph Lima, 29, left his wallet and identification in the taxi and was stopped on suspicion of impaired driving just hours after he stole a white Toyota, Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson said on Wednesday.

She said Lima, of Chaplain Bay Road, St. George's took a cab ride on June 10 and told the driver at 1.15 a.m. that he was going to cash a cheque for the $102 fare. Lima never returned but left his personal belongings and an ID card in the cab.

Ms Vaucrosson said Stuart Doyle parked his white Toyota in the driveway of his Pembroke house with the keys in the change well on June 20 at 5.40 p.m. He then walked into Hamilton. In the early hours of the following morning he found the car was gone and called Police.

Later on June 21, Police spotted the vehicle in Pembroke and pulled Lima over. Police noticed he had glazed eyes and smelled strongly of alcohol. They asked who the car belonged to and Lima answered that it was on loan from a woman named Melinda and he did not know her last name.

Lima was charged with taking and driving away a motorcar and driving while impaired. The car was returned on June 22 to Doyle.

Lima pleaded guilty to stealing the car, impaired driving and failing to pay the $102 fare.

He said he had been out of jail for two months and blamed his serious drug problem for the crimes. He said he had been addicted to heroin, cocaine, marijuana and alcohol and that the problem had started in 1984.

Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves said he saw no real connection between a drug addiction and the charge involving the taxi driver.

He said Lima's previous convictions included three instances in 2000 of driving while disqualified, each time in a stolen car and once while impaired. His previous convictions also included two incidents in 1994 and 1996 when he had taken vehicles and was also found to be driving while impaired.

Lima said he stole cars to pay for drugs by waiting outside supermarkets and driving people's groceries home for them. Mr. Greaves said his criminal record had started earlier than his drug addiction and gave him two years in jail for driving while impaired and for taking and driving away the latest vehicle.

He received a further 102 days in jail - equivalent to the number of dollars he had failed to pay to the cab driver.