'Bored' teenage driver locked up after ramming police car in Black Country chase
A teenage tearaway who took his aunt's car without permission before leading police on a 13-minute pursuit refusing to stop has been locked up for 12 months.
Tony Price took the Ford Focus because he was "bored" and decided to drive it until it ran out of fuel, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 19-year-old was spotted going too fast in George Henry Road, Great Bridge, by a police patrol but ignored their order to stop and accelerated into the distance at shortly after 5am on September 7 last year, said Mr Philip Brunt, prosecuting.
The defendant sped through the junction of Edward Road and West Bromwich High Street at 40mph before going over speed bumps at 50mph and heading down Vicarage Road and Heath Lane.
He careered through two sets of red lights and tried to ram a police car that was attempting to box him in but was blocked when he turned from Hall Green Road onto Walsall Road in a bid to reach the wrong side of the dual carriageway, the court heard.
He knew the manoeuvre could force police to call off the chase because the threat of a head-on crash made it too dangerous to continue, maintained the prosecutor.
But a quick-thinking officer realised what the defendant was up to and crashed his car into the corner of the Focus, spinning it to a standstill before the move could be completed.
Mr Charles Crinion, defending, said: "He lacks direction and could do with the probation service putting him back on the straight and narrow. He wants to join the Army which would give him the discipline and focus he badly needs."
Price, from Lawrence Court in Aldridge Road, Oldbury, was bailed after his arrest but failed to attend hearings at the magistrates and crown court as well as arranged meetings with probation before being remanded in custody last month.
He pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without consent, dangerous driving and having neither insurance nor valid licence and was given 12 months detention in a Young Offenders Institution by Judge Michael Challinor who told him: "You have sent yourself into custody by missing court cases and meetings."
The defendant was also banned from driving for a year on release.
