Jason Kirkham, who is 21, and 26-year-old Andrew Kempster admitted a string of burglaries in Staffordshire over the past seven years.

The pair filmed their exploits and then edited the tapes with credits, titles and soundtracks including music by the pop band Oasis.

The court saw tapes showing them stealing from, vandalising and setting fire to several vacant properties between 1992 and 1996.

They called one film "Arson in the Garage" and another "Kempster's Capri" with opening credits which stated: "The mad and crazy world of people's minds ... The Wonder Years... taken from real life."

Police found a total of nine video tapes when they searched Kempster's home in Hawksworth, Tamworth, Staffordshire, after an arson attack on a paper mill.

The films showed the two men breaking into disused cottages, committing acts of vandalism, criminal damage and arson.

One tape featured the two men bragging about an attempted arson attack on an empty house saying the police were "everywhere" but had no idea how near they were to the culprits.

Shame and embarassment

Kirkham's defence lawyer Martin Jenkins said his client was ashamed of his actions, blaming the offences on mental illness.

And Neil Smith, defending Kempster, said his client was "too embarassed" to watch the tapes. "Kempster says it is scary to see what he used to be like," he told the court. Kempster was a changed man and no longer the "young thug" in the video tapes, he added.

Kempster and Kirkham pleaded guilty to six counts of burglary and one of arson.