A 22-year-old man who was high on ecstasy when he stole a van was given two years probation when he appeared in Magistrates' Court.

Devonne Hodgson will also have to report to Drug Court on Wednesday and take part in any rehabilitative programme at the direction of court services.

The court heard that on October 12, Mark Wheddon, of Designer Flowers, parked his Mitsubishi van next to another van on Well Bottom Road, in Southampton, around 2 p.m.

Police on patrol of the area, however, saw the same van being driven erratically and when they tried to flag the driver down, he refused to stop.

Officers followed him onto Horseshoe Lane where he stopped the var and ran off dropping his LG phone.

Later the same morning, Police noticed Hodgson wandering the same area and when they asked what he was doing he replied: "Whatever. I was just looking for my phone."

When presented with the LG phone the Police had found he replied: "Yes it's my granny's."

After searching his pockets, the officers found the razor blades and an 11 mm socket which had been taken from the second van.

Hodgson told officers that night he had consumed a large amount of brandy and ecstasy.

In court on Friday, Hodgson said that when he stole the van on October 13, it was the first time he had tried ecstasy and he usually only used marijuana.

He added: "This was the first time to do an offence with drugs. I really just want to put that down (drugs) and get my life on track."

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, however, warned that marijuana was a gateway drug and should be taken seriously.

"It's a gateway drug. You start there then increasing it, and you move on up the chain," he said.

Then he sentenced Hodgson, who had been in custody since his last court date on October 15, to appear in drug court next week, two years probation and 14 days imprisonment with time already spent in prison to be considered.