Boy stole car with two toddlers inside 'to settle £40 drug debt'
A 15-year-old who stole a car with two young children inside has claimed he took the vehicle to settle a £40 drug debt after mistaking the youngsters' father for a delivery driver.
The youth, who cannot be named because of his age, told Birmingham Magistrates' Court he did not realise the brothers, aged two and four, were strapped into the rear of the Nissan Note, even after a high-speed multi-vehicle crash.
District Judge Shamim Qureshi was told the boy, who denies kidnap but has admitted motoring offences, was arrested after armed police arrived at the crash scene on Birmingham's busy A38 Bristol Road.
The court heard the children's father was left crying hysterically in the street after his vehicle was stolen as he delivered food to a friend in the Selly Park area on Saturday February 20.
Another defendant, aged 16, also denies kidnap, after being arrested while fleeing from the crash, which left the two-year-old with a cut mouth and a bruised shoulder.
Giving evidence as his mother watched from the public gallery, the 15-year-old told the court he was equipped with bolt cutters and looking for a bicycle to steal when he saw the Nissan with its engine running.
He told the judge: "I first noticed the car when the driver was getting out with a bag in his hand.
