Netherton teenage tearaway locked up after police chase
A teenager who led police on an alarming chase in a stolen car has been locked up for ten months.
Mustafa Islam was on a 'joy ride' in the Vauxhall Astra that had been taken from an address in Rowley Regis in a car key burglary six days earlier, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
A tyre flew off the saloon shortly after the 18-year-old driver ignored a police request to stop in Netherton and accelerated into the distance, disclosed Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting.
Soon afterwards another patrol spotted the Astra on the outskirts of Lye speeding at more than twice the 30 mph limit with showers of sparks flying from the wheel without a tyre at 4am on September 14.
Police tailed the car as it hurtled through a red traffic light but abandoned the pursuit when it went round the Stourbridge Ring Road in the wrong direction.
The eight minute chase resumed after the vehicle was seen in nearby Greenfield Avenue and quickly ground to a halt as a second tyre went flat.
Islam told police he knew the Astra was stolen and had been drinking and taking drugs before driving, the court heard.
Mr Richard Mohabir, defending the trainee electrician, continued: "He is a silly boy who admits he only took to the road because he fancied a bit of a joy ride. When he saw the police he panicked."
Islam from Durham Road, Netherton admitted dangerous driving and handling stolen property.
He was ordered to be detained at a Young Offenders Institution for ten months and was banned from driving for one year five months.
Judge James Burbidge QC told him: "You had been drinking and taking cannabis before driving at up to 70 mph in a 30 limit. Sparks were coming from the car after you lost a tyre and mercifully nobody was coming in the opposite direction as you drove the wrong way round Stourbridge Ring Road.
"You could have killed yourself and your passenger while putting police officers in jeopardy, all because you fancied a joyride."