A TEENAGER has admitted being a passenger in a stolen vehicle.

James Robert McHugh, 18, of Battalion Court, Hightown, pleaded guilty to knowingly being a passenger in a Nissan Qashqai which had been taken without consent when he appeared from custody at North East Wales Magistrates Court on Saturday.

The court at Mold heard how on the afternoon of October 29 Phillips Jones parked her vehicle outside her address in Caego, but someone entered through the front door to take the keys and the vehicle.

Police say the vehicle being driven later on but could not identify the driver.

But the car was recovered the next day on October 30 and officers found an unsmoked cigarette on the passenger’s seat with the defendant’s DNA on it.

In interview McHugh gave police a prepared statement to say his friend had picked him up from Gwersyllt, they had gone to McDonald’s in Chirk and he was then dropped off in Penycae.

He claimed not to know the car had been stolen.

Defending, Laura Preston-Hayes said: “He’s a young man with very serious issues that need probation intervention.”

As the probation service are not available at weekends, Ms Preston-Hayes invited the magistrates to adjourn sentencing.

Professor Marie Williams, chairing the magistrates bench, adjourned sentencing to the court tomorrow for a fast-delivery report to be produced.

McHugh was released on conditional bail until then to live at an address Battalion Court, Hightown, with a 7pm to 7am curfew.