Former Coldstream Guard Luke Wilson's mother found he had stolen a cheque and used a bank card to withdraw £150 from her account.

* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Wortley Today.

Earlier this month, Wilson, 18, got in to the house and stole a DVD player and TV before leaving a note for his mother which read: 'I will make your life hell.'

* Click here to become a fan of Wortley Today on Facebook.

Leeds Crown Court heard Wilson, of Bawn Avenue, Farnley, committed those offences while on court bail for two "despicable" frauds last December.

He conned £900 from an 89-year-old Tingley woman who suffers from severe dementia. Wilson took the cash for work supposedly carried out
on her driveway while she was in hospital.

Prosecutor Michael Smith said that no work at all had actually been done.

A neighbour discovered the woman had receipts signed by Wilson, who later claimed "gipsies" had asked him to collect £3,000 from the pensioner in return for a £40 payment.

Police were alerted after Wilson turned up at the pensioner's home demanding a further £300.

His fingerprints were on the receipts. Wilson admitted two fraud offences when he appeared in court and was granted bail.

Days later, while on bail, he committed the offences against his mother. He later admitted burglary and two thefts.

Richard Reed, for Wilson said he had a drug problem and has agreed to pay his mother back.

He added: "Mother and son are working towards reconciliation. He is anxious to resume his career in the army."

Sentencing Wilson to 18 months in a young offender institution, Judge Rodney Grant described the frauds as "despicable" and the offences against his mother as "mean."

The court heard he was understood to have left the army for medical reasons.