Teenager jailed for driving wrong way through Blackwall Tunnel
Johal Rathour has been sentenced to four years in prison
A teenager who drove a stolen car the wrong way through the Blackwell Tunnel causing a head on collision has been sentenced to four years in jail.
18-year-old Johal Rathour from Grays was identified by The Met's Road and Transport Policing Command officers after he caused the crash at 04:22am on 6th August 2021.
There were no serious injuries caused to the driver of the Mercedes van he crashed into.
£80,000 worth of damage was caused to the van and the stolen Range Rover he was driving, and Transport for London suffered over half a million pounds in losses for closing the tunnel for more than two hours.
Rathour ran away from the scene of the crash but was arrested a short time later, after officers forensically identified him and tracked his mobile phone.
The Met Police say he failed to attend court after he was charged with the offences, before being tracked down and arrested by RTPC officers in January this year.
Police Constable Adam Lamb, the investigating officer in the case, said: "Rathour was guilty of an incredibly dangerous piece of driving, and it was a miracle that nobody was seriously injured.
"Watching the video of him driving the wrong way through the tunnel is very distressing as it seems inevitable that a fatal collision would happen.
"As well as the damage to the stolen vehicle and the van he collided with, Rathour also disrupted and delayed the journeys of thousands of people using Blackwell Tunnel on the day of the crash.
"I am glad that he has faced justice for his actions and will not be able to drive on the roads of London for many years."