A university student caught behind the wheel of a stolen BMW worth nearly £30,000 told a court he turned to crime in order to fund his engineering course.

Eisvinas Zukauskas, 23, said he was on an extended holiday in the UK when he was caught in a missing BMW M2 in Swindon.

It came after a 70mph night-time police chase in the rain on Highworth Road, without the BMW’s headlights on.

Zukauskas, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and not guilty to theft at Swindon Crown Court on August 13.

Ms Meabh McGee, prosecuting, told the court that on April 4 the BMW owner parked his vehicle in his garage, but by 3am the next morning it was gone.

Meanwhile, police were attending reports of suspicious individuals looking into cars around Tadpole Lane in Swindon on April 5 and at 3.17am saw the BMW driving on Tadpole Lane without its headlights on.

The police turned on their blue lights but the driver failed to stop, instead driving at 70mph on Highworth Road - a 50mph road - through multiple red traffic lights.A BMW M2, such as the one driven by Eisvinas Zukauskas (Image: Press Association Images)

After a seven-minute chase the BMW was stopped by a second police car - but then started rolling back into the first as Zukauskas failed to apply the handbrake.

Police found a screwdriver and torch on Zukauskas, who was wearing black gloves, and numberplates for his own car in the footwell.

Amelia McKey, representing Zukauskas, said he is enrolled to study engineering in Lithuania and was on an “extended holiday” in the UK. 

She said: “He was offered money to drive the car and agreed because he needed the money to continue his studies. He is of good character and under 25.”

Zukauskas, who has no previous convictions, refused to be interviewed by police.

Judge James Watson KC said: “You appear to have accepted a proposal to come to the UK to steal a car in the early hours of the morning.

“Instead of stopping when the police put on their blue lights, you drove at speeds in excess of the safe limit in wet conditions with no lights on, in a way that demonstrated you were not in safe control of the car.”

Zukauskas was sentenced to nine months in jail for dangerous driving, deemed the most serious offence, and failure to have insurance and six months concurrently for handling stolen goods. 

He was disqualified from driving for 16 months. A victim surcharge will apply when calculated.