Nottinghamshire Police have released dashcam footage showing a van ramming into police cars as they are chased down the M1. The manhunt, which took place in December 2021, spanned 63 miles and four counties.
Officers in Leicestershire first found the trail of a stolen Mercedes Sprinter van believed to have used fake number plates. The van, carrying £40,000 worth of stolen kitchen equipment taken from a truck in Milton Keynes, was driven by indebted drug user Robert Wingate, 24, of HMP Hull, on his way back to Leeds with the stolen loot. . His passenger was Deimantas Palaima, 19, of Throstle Row, Middleton, Leeds.
Both men were jailed at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday (February 13) for their role in the terrifying road traffic offence, which spans the M1 from Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire to South Yorkshire. After the sentencing, the police released footage of the chase, captured by police car cameras, helicopter cameras, and the criminals’ phones.
Read more: Van driver rammed police cars during 63-mile chase along M1
It captures the moment the van spun a police car, which crashed into the barriers on the side of the highway, as well as the moment officers finally stopped the van and arrested the couple. Detective Sergeant Matt Dumbrell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It’s a miracle our two officers who were rammed off the road were not seriously injured.
“This dangerous driving showed complete disregard for the safety of others using the road and put the lives of others at serious risk. It was only thanks to the determined teamwork of the police that the van was brought to a stop before it did any more damage.
“I am pleased that Wingate and Palaima have now been locked up and I hope that the sentences they have received give them a chance to consider their actions.”
Wingate, 24, with no fixed address, was jailed for a total of three years and nine months, beginning at the end of a sentence he is currently serving. He pleaded guilty to tampering with stolen property, aggravated vehicle seizure, assault, bodily harm to officers using the truck as a weapon and criminal damage four times to police cars. His driving ban was three years and three months.
Palaima was sent to juvenile custody for 25 months, half of which he is serving, after he pleaded guilty to handling stolen property, two assaults, causing bodily harm to police, aggravated theft of vehicles and one count of causing criminal damage. . His driving ban was for 25 months.
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