A ram raider who smashed his way into a petrol station shop at night managed to steal just £239 worth of cigarettes, but caused £5,500 of damage, a court heard.

Ricky Morgan rammed Iden Park Garage, in Staplehurst, in a stolen Daihatsu Sportstrack 4x4 car with bull bars.

The 23-year-old roofer, of White Horse Lane, Otham, has been jailed for three years and two months after admitting burglary.

Maidstone Crown Court heard there was no cash on the premises when the 12.30am raid was committed on the closed garage on September 23.

Judge James O’Mahony said: “It was not the most sophisticated or carefully planned ram raid.”

Police traced Morgan through DNA found on a hammer.

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John Fitzgerald, defending, said Morgan had been approached by others to carry out the burglary and described himself as a back seat passenger.

“He knew nothing about the plan until that night,” he said. “Being easily led, along he went. This is by far the most serious offence he has committed.”

Morgan entered his guilty plea after asking for an indication of the sentence he would receive.

Judge O’Mahony said ram raids were regarded by the courts as outrageous offences and an affront to society.

“Getting into a vehicle and crashing it into premises is something akin to an illegal military operation,” he told Morgan.

“You used a powerful vehicle with a reinforced front, as if it was a machine that crashed into the premises. The damage done was considerable.

“This was a quiet village. It has horrendous consequences for people living there, who know they are under assault from people like you. The only thing one can say on this matter is it was not, perhaps, a sophisticated operation. But you got your lousy cigarettes as a result of the awful thing you did.”