Joyrider leads police on 'ridiculous' 115mph car chase

A joyrider has avoided jail after leading police on a high-speed chase.

Jacob Rimmer, 21, tried to lose authorities after stealing a white BMW 120 near Salford on 29 August.

He described his driving as “f***ing ridiculous” when questioned following the pursuit between Swinton and Little Hulton after he crashed with another vehicle, the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to four counts, including dangerous driving, and was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday.

Watch: Joyrider leads police on a 115mph chase

Rimmer came to the attention of covert Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers when he was seen in the BMW aggressively performing U-turns - causing the tyres to screech - on Queensway in Clifton, Swinton.

After initially stopping when asked to do so by police on nearby Whitegrave Drive, Rimmer refused to exit the vehicle - falsely claiming he was disabled - before speeding away.

Officers from the Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit (TVIU) pursued Rimmer for the next six minutes as he went through red lights, drove on the wrong side of the road, hit speeds of 115mph on and collided with a red Vauxhall Corsa on the A6, causing it to spin 180 degrees.

The vehicle was damaged but the occupant was not seriously injured.

Seconds later, Rimmer ran out of the car and was chased by police before being detained and taken into custody.

A lock knife was found near where Rimmer was arrested and a kitchen knife was discovered in the driver's door of the car.

Before Rimmer's interview, it had been established he had been driving the car on cloned plates after it had been stolen from a property in Leigh four days earlier, and that he was not insured to drive the vehicle.

He denied any knowledge that the BMW was stolen and claimed he found the kitchen knife in the driver's door but kept it because it looked “sick”.

Investigators from GMP Salford's Operation Naseby - formed to tackle a spate of organised crime in the city in late 2019 - charged Rimmer with handling stolen goods, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and possession of an offensive weapon.

Rimmer, of Worsley, Salford, pleaded guilty to all four counts.

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As well as his suspended sentence, he will also have to complete a rehabilitation activity requirement, unpaid work, a five-month curfew and a two-year driving ban.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Worthington, of GMP's Salford district, said: "Rimmer's level of driving that day was nothing short of appalling, and the officers involved in the pursuit remarked on how it was by sheer luck or fortune that he didn’t seriously injure or even kill somebody as a result.”