Skip to main content

Grave crime

A British man was sent to prison for four years after being stopped by police while he was in the process of stealing a JCB telehandler. In his attempts to elude following police, the man veered wildly along narrow roads with no thought for other road users. He then drove the telehandler through a graveyard, smashing headstones and damaging graves in his escape bid. This proved fruitless however as a police helicopter had joined the pursuit and was able to direct police cars towards the speeding JCB. The ma
February 28, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A British man was sent to prison for four years after being stopped by police while he was in the process of stealing a 255 JCB telehandler. In his attempts to elude following police, the man veered wildly along narrow roads with no thought for other road users. He then drove the telehandler through a graveyard, smashing headstones and damaging graves in his escape bid. This proved fruitless however as a police helicopter had joined the pursuit and was able to direct police cars towards the speeding JCB. The man was forced to stop by a flat tyre, which was caused by damage accrued during his destructive rampage through the graveyard. He had attempted to steal the telehandler to order for criminals. In court this, and a series of 16 other vehicle theft offences, were taken into account in his sentencing.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Construction machinery theft increased
    April 8, 2020
    Construction machinery theft has increased during the Corona Virus lockdown.
  • Concern at high rate of crashes in Asia
    July 5, 2017
    There is concern at the high rate of road crashes across Asia. An increase in vehicle ownership has seen congestion grow in many Asian cities.
  • Police stop speeding drivers in UK enforcement action
    May 27, 2016
    Over 2,000 drivers in the UK were caught driving at speeds of 160km/h (100mph) or more with one even hitting 250 km/h (156mph). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the latter was in a BMW. Meanwhile one UK driver became so incensed by the poor road manners of others, that he fitted a police siren and blue flashing lights to his car. He started using this equipment every time he saw another driver using a phone while at the wheel. The police were less than impressed and he was charged and fined for impersonating an offi
  • Road planing
    May 14, 2014
    In New York, a pilot and his two passengers had a lucky escape when the engine of their light aircraft failed. And road construction workers played a key role in ensuring that there were no casualties in the incident. When the road crew spotted the Piper Cherokee gliding in, dead stick, towards the Major Deegan Expressway they realised what was about to happen and parked their vehicles so as to halt traffic on the busy roadway. The rapid descent meant that the pilot brought the aircraft down hard onto the s