Youth sentenced over Chapelford police chase involving helicopter

The incident occurred on the evening of Saturday, January 7, at around 7pm, after police were made aware of a suspected stolen car entering the town.

A pursuit was declared and officers gave chase to the vehicle, supported by the police helicopter, and the car was stopped after it smashed into a lamppost on Arizona Crescent in Chapelford.

A 15-year-old boy from the Yorkshire area was arrested in connection with the incident.

A now-16-year-old, of Wakefield, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was later charged with dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

He appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, July 13, which heard how the defendant drove a blue Toyota Auris dangerously on Winwick Road and Cromwell Avenue.

His appalling driving continued on Westbrook Crescent, Westbrook Way, Burtonwood Road, Boston Boulevard and Arizona Crescent.

The crash occurred on Arizona Crescent in Chapelford at the end of the pursuit. Picture: Google Maps

Magistrates took the youth’s guilty plea into account and sentenced him to a nine-month referral order.

A referral order is the community sentence most often used by the courts when dealing with 10 to 17-year-olds, particularly for first time offenders who plead guilty.

They require that an offender must agree a contract of rehabilitative and restorative elements to be completed within the sentence.

Referral orders can include reparation or restitution to the victim, for example, repairing any damage caused or making financial recompense, as well as undertaking a programme of interventions and activities to address their offending behaviour.

Magistrates also ordered him to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £26 and costs of £250 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

In addition, the youth is disqualified for holding or obtaining a driving licence for two years and must pass an extended test of competence before obtaining one.