McDonald's-loving crook jailed after police link fast food orders to car crimes
Callum Roberts, of HMP Brinsford in Featherstone, near Wolverhampton, stole a BMW from a car park near St Julian's Crescent in Shrewsbury at around 10pm on Saturday, February 15.
The vehicle was spotted by traffic officers around two hours later and followed.
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Roberts tried to escape, reaching speeds of around 60mph in a 30 zone. He drove dangerously, narrowly missing another vehicle.
He managed to lose the traffic police and abandoned the car in Roden, a hamlet between Shrewsbury and Telford.
He fled the scene but officers who found the car discovered a McDonald's bag with a receipt showing he had been to the restaurant in Meole Brace in Shrewsbury.
Police checked venue CCTV and identified the 20-year-old as the driver.
In the second offence, car keys belonging to a Citroen C3 Aircross were taken from an address on Brougham Square in Shrewsbury on Saturday, March 1. The car was stolen the following night.
But police spotted the stolen vehicle in the north of Shrewsbury on Wednesday, March 5. Officers pursued the car through residential streets.
The driver, who was identified as Roberts, hit 60mph in a 20-zone and went the wrong way around a roundabout before joining the A5 on the wrong carriageway, where he reached speeds of 100mph, narrowly avoiding a HGV.
The motorist stopped in a layby and he fled the scene.
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But Shropshire's Serious Acquisitive Crime Team found Roberts had fraudulently used bank cards belonging to the owner of the Citroen to buy a McDonald's shortly after the vehicle was reported stolen.
He admitted dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, fraud by false representation and two counts of driving while disqualified, in May.
He was jailed for three years and given a four-year and two-month driving ban, which will come into force on release, at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday, July 10.
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Det Con Tom Clough, said: 'We will work tirelessly to ensure those who cause distress to the public by taking what does not belong to them, as well as putting lives at risk by their actions, are put before the courts.
'Not only was he driving stolen vehicles, Roberts was aware he was driving while disqualified. His willingness to engage in such risk taking to evade capture on two separate occasions is something that caused officers great concern.
'This was a team effort and if it wasn't for the commitment of my team as well as our roads policing officers, we couldn't have achieved such a good result in such a short space of time.
'I am pleased with the sentence at court, which I hope gives the victims some sort of closure, as well as time for Roberts to reflect on how dangerous his actions were, which could have had tragic consequences given the lack of care for the safety of others and himself.'
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