by Holly Tribe
Click here to see video footage of the incident
A thief who stole a caravan and deliberately reversed it into a pursuing police car has been convicted for dangerous driving and vehicle theft.
Footage of the incident was captured by a camera installed onboard the pursuing police vehicle and shows the moment the stolen caravan was reversed into the stationary car, ripping off a rear bumper before speeding away.
The constabulary vehicle was rendered immobile with steam coming from under the bonnet and an estimated £3000 worth of damage was caused.
The towcar used to commandeer the caravan was a four-wheel drive Daihatsu which was registered stolen from a home in Mackworth on 5th August last year. Police were alerted to the theft when they received a phone call from a concerned neighbour who witnessed the vehicle being attached to the Avondale caravan and driven off.
Police pursued the stolen caravan through the streets of Alvaston at speeds of up to 40mph as it swerved over the road and was driven the wrong way round a round-about.
Terence Hall, 22, was arrested on the day of the incident and has been convicted of vehicle theft, dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified and ordered to serve thirty months in jail.
According to the Derby Evening Telegraph, when sentencing, Recorder David Farrell QC said: “If someone was driving along that road in a proper manner and you were driving the way you were, you could have killed them or seriously injured them.”
Hall’s brother, Kevin, was also sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders’ institution for his involvement in the robbery. He is said to have been following the chase in his van, but voluntarily stopped behind the police car.
