A thieving son who broke into his father’s home when he was in hospital has been jailed after the victim told a judge he had broken his heart.

Benjamin Davies stole car keys from the empty house and took his father Philip’s mobility car, which he wrecked during a police chase in Exmouth three days later.

He also stole his father’s collection of commemorative medals and plates which he sold to an antique dealer for £70, hundreds of times less than what they were worth.

His father, a retired soldier, wrote a moving victim statement which was read to a judge at Exeter Crown Court.

He said:"To know my son was capable of stealing from me is one of the worst things imaginable. It devastated me at a time when I had a heart bypass and was trying to relax and avoid stress.

"I did the best for my son. He struggled to grow up and had problems with drug addiction. In the past I have made excuses for him and sometimes questioned whether I went wrong as a parent. But no more.

"This is entirely his doing and I cannot keep defending him and trying to make him a better person. He has made his own choices time after time and now has to deal with the consequences.

"He has gone too far. He has broken my heart. I keep asking myself what I have done to deserve this treatment."

The break in at his father’s house in Torquay was the culmination of a crime spree in which he also stole from a restaurant where he had worked in Teignmouth, the Fisherman’s Mission cafe in Brixham, and a Methodist church.

He was finally caught after police spotted his father’s stolen Citroen mobility car in Exmouth and chased it until he crashed in Lympstone and tried to flee on foot.

Davies, aged 32, of Howell Road, Exeter, was found guilty of burglary and aggravated vehicle taking by a jury and admitted a burglary, a theft and asked for three thefts to be taken into consideration.

He was jailed for a total of four years six months by Recorder Mr Donald Tait, who banned him from driving for two years.

He told him:"This was a mean and serious offence, burgling your father’s home when he was in hospital. Your father’s victim personal statement shows he was devastated. He has tried over and over again to help you, and this is what he gets in return."

Davies broke into the house in Torridge Avenue, Torquay, last October by cutting out a PVC panel in the back door. He stole televisions and his father’s collection of old family medals and commemorative plates.

Most of these were recovered from antique dealer George Gillman in Newton Abbot, where he had sold them for just £70. His fingerprint was found on a plate which honoured the late Queen Mother’s 80th birthday.

He also took his father’s Citroen C4 from the disabled bay outside the house and crashed it after being seen on Exmouth seafront. He went at 60 mph in 30 mph zones before crashing into a Skoda on a lane leading into Lympstone.

Davies and his girlfriend, who was a passenger, legged it but were caught and three bottles of his father’s prescription painkillers were found in the car or a hedge at Lympstone church.

He also broke into the Talk of the Town cafe in Teignmouth, where he had worked as a cook, and stole £4,605 worth of catering equipment and the cafe at the Fisherman’s Mission in Brixham where he stole ornaments worth £13,000 and caused £6,500 damage.

Davies told the jury someone else had burgled the house and taken the car and he traced them to Exmouth through underworld contacts. He claimed he was recovering the car when seen by police.

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Davies has been diagnosed as having PTSD as a result of his own service in the army. He has stopped taking drugs in jail and is undertaking courses which will help him go straight when he is released.