A Rochdale road thug who repeatedly rammed a police car while driving a stolen Land Rover in a high-speed pursuit has been jailed for 15 months.
Steven Colin Bowker, 21, of Foxglove Court, Healey, Rochdale, was sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to theft of a motor vehicle at an earlier hearing.
The incident occurred on Friday July 25 shortly before 11am after a stolen Land Rover was spotted by officers from GMP’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit (TVIU).
Officers were in the Littleborough area due to a spate of 4×4 thefts and followed the stolen vehicle in an unmarked Audi S3 before the driver attempted to get away.
A pursuit lasting a few minutes began as the driver of the Land Rover repeatedly rammed the Audi in attempt to get away, resulting in the officer’s car being totalled.
At one point the Land Rover damaged a Renault van belonging to a member of the public.
The driver and another man inside abandoned the Land Rover on Church Street, Littleborough.
Chief Inspector Mark Dexter said: “The recklessness of this man’s actions could have seriously injured the officers who tried to stop him and his actions showed a complete lack of care for others.
“We utilise the resources we have to tackle areas where we identify a pattern of crime or offending, such as the theft of 4x4s in this case and today’s sentence shows how seriously we take this type of crime.”
Images courtesy of GMP, with thanks
