A FATHER who could not cope with the pressures of a newborn baby ram-raided a petrol station with a stolen Porsche and escaped with £2,500 of cigarettes.

James Benson was part of a gang of three who smashed their way into the shop at Sportif Suzuki, in Witney Road, Long Hanborough, on August 21 last year.

Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday “it was the pressures of being a father of a newborn” which triggered the offence.

Using a Porsche Cayenne 4x4, Benson and the two men repeatedly rammed the door to the service station at 4.50am and wheeled out a display cabinet containing cigarettes worth £2,471.33p.

Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, said the 53-plate car was worth £25,000 and about £2,000 of damage had been caused to the garage door.

The cabinet was found dumped at a nearby farm later that morning.

Dylan Taylor, 28, was jailed for two-and-a-half years in June at Reading Crown Court after admitting burglary and handling stolen goods.

Mr Stone said: “The third man, as far as we know, remains at large.”

Father-of-one Benson, who has 27 previous convictions for 53 offences dating back to 1994, was arrested at his home in Cassin Drive, Hesters Way, Cheltenham.

Carol Knotts, defending, said of her client: “Things are changing and he’s doing all he can to put his offending behind him.”

She said his son was six weeks old at the time of the offence and added: “It was really the pressures of being a father of a newborn which made him go back to the old ways of drinking with his friends.

“Unfortunately the pressures of having a newborn son put him and his girlfriend into conflict and he wasn’t able to deal with it as he should have done.

“He knows that his behaviour has to change.”

Benson had earlier admitted burglary and handling stolen goods.

Judge Patrick Eccles jailed Benson for two-and-a-half years and called it a “carefully planned and professional”.

The judge added that the petrol station was not part of a large chain but a “small, family-run business”.

He told Benson: “If you realised at the time the value of your son to you, maybe you wouldn’t have done it.”