A MAN who was caught driving a van stolen from outside a home in Musselburgh has been jailed for 12 months.

The vehicle was taken from the home in the town before Daryl Brown was caught driving the van towards the Edinburgh City Bypass at about 10.30pm on October 26 last year.

Brown, 27, was pulled over in the van, which by this time had new number plates fitted, by police officers near to Old Craighall about 20 minutes after the theft.

The officers were then said to have questioned Brown about the van but he told them “he was unsure where he got it”.

Last week, solicitor James McMackin told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that his client had made “a calculated risk” in driving the van and had “numerous analogous” convictions on his record. The court also heard that Brown admitted driving the vehicle while having previously been banned from driving and with no insurance.

The lawyer said the father-of-two was accepting that “custody will be inevitable in this matter”.

Brown, who appeared at the city court from custody, was sentenced to a total of 12 months in jail and banned from driving for the next four years.

Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of resetting a vehicle, which had previously been dishonestly appropriated by theft, at the A720 City Bypass on October 26 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and while having no insurance.