DUBAI:  A jobless young Briton told a court here that he stole fancy cars because he was obssessed with them.

B.S., a 27 told the Misdemeanors Court on July 18 that he can't hold himself back from stealing an abandoned expensive vehicle as it makes him feel "comfortable" to drive it for a while.

B.S. told the court that he parked all stolen vehicles in the same spot at Al Qusais where the police found them. Police found nine cars, including Range Rovers, Land Rover, Ford Mercury, Infinity, Honda Accord, Mazda and a Hundai 4x4 car.

B.S. said he only stole expensive cars parked in residential buildings and only if they were dusty, he said. The dust that gathers on the vehicle is an indication that the owner is not in the country, he told the court. He also told investigators that he used to lend these cars to some of his friends. He also admitted that every once in a while he used to go to the spot where he parked the stolen cars and felt relieved when he did so.

Investigations revealed that the suspect came to the UAE two years ago and joined a private company at Al Barsha.

He was rendered jobless when the company shut down. His stay in the country became illegal since the company's sponsorship was cancelled and he couldn't leave the country after his passport was seized by the Jebel Ali Police Station in a dud cheque case.

The suspect was arrested on January 16 at the Marina area driving a Range Rover that he stole after he found its doors unlocked and the keys left in the front seat's pocket. When arrested, keys for three different cars were found in his possession.

The suspect's friend A.A., a 22-year-old student at the Middlesex University in Dubai, was also detained in connection with the case. He was caught in March in Marina area while driving a Range Rover around 10pm. The student was unable to produce the vehicle's registration papers to police and said it belonged to his friend. At the Bur Dubai Police station, the suspect confessed to stealing the car along with his friend in December 2009 from a parking lot behind Choithrams supermarket in the Gardens area.

R.K. a British financial analyst, told investigators that upon his return from England on January 8 at around 5pm, his black Range Rover was missing from the parking lot of his building in the Marina area. The next hearing is on September 27.