Getaway car in "100mph police chase" - court

1:20am Thursday 28th February 2008

Two men who took part in a burglary at the DVLA office near Worcester were involved in a 100mph chase with police shortly after the raid, a jury heard.

Police got on the tail of a Ford Mondeo after it drove into the viewpoint car-park on the A38 near the southern bridge and parked by a Mercedes van.

Four men in the Mondeo tried to hide their faces from a police patrol already parked there - then immediately sped off, PC Gary Otun told Worcester Crown Court.

PC Otun described how, during a chase in the early hours of November 15, the Mondeo reached speeds of up to 100mph in a 40mph area, drove the wrong way round an island after overtaking three vehicles and sped through a red light.

Objects thrown from the car into the path of the pursuing patrol vehicle included a safe from the DVLA office at Kempsey, said Samantha Crabb, prosecuting.

Police eventually arrested driver Gavin Shuck and one of his alleged passengers, Terence Hodgkins, in another car later the same night.

Shuck, 40, of Rifle Range Road, Kidderminster, and Hodgkins, 31, of Goldthorn Road, Kidderminster, deny burglary of the DVLA and the theft of a safe and cash totalling £2,197.

Shuck also pleads not guilty to dangerous driving on the A4440 Broomhall Road in St Peter's, Worcester, and on various lanes in the Norton and Littleworth area.

Alarms went off at the DVLA office just before 11pm that night. An hour later PC Otun saw the Mondeo pull into the viewpoint car park.

Because it suddenly left, he gave chase and told the jury: "I was doing in excess of 100mph near the St Peter's gardening centre and wasn't getting close to the Mondeo. Numerous items were thrown out. At the time I was fearful for my life."

One object later recovered was the 18inch long metal safe. Money was later seized from a third man who has pleaded guilty to burglary, said Miss Crabb.

PC Otun said at Hatfield Bank the Mondeo stopped and two rear passengers fled, one wearing a jacket with distinctive white stripes on it.

The police patrol later stopped a Mitsubishi in St Peter's. Hodgkins was in the rear and a similar jacket was also found in the car.

The Mondeo finally stopped in Brockhill Lane when Shuck was arrested but a front seat passenger escaped into undergrowth.

Police recovered a balaclava, a high-powered torch and a walkie-talkie radio from the car.

Shuck, an L-driver, told police: "I've not done anything apart from driving with my provisional expired."

The trial continues.

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