Thief jailed for crashing into a police car after stealing a car in Newcastle
The 35-year-old took keys from a shop in Byker - but crashed on Teesside
A criminal who stole a car outside a shop in Byker and then later crashed into a police car has been jailed.
Darren Cooper, 35, is today behind bars after the raid on the Precision shop on St Ann's Close in November 2019.
Newcastle Crown Court was told how Cooper entered the store, distracted the member of staff and stole a set of car keys.
Claire Cann, 34, was waiting outside the shop and the pair made off in the Vauxhall Astra.
However, later in the evening, Cooper managed to crash the stolen vehicle into a police patrol car in Hartlepool.
Officers in Cleveland ran a check on the car to discover it had been stolen and arrested the pair at the scene.
Cooper pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and theft in relation to the incident on November 8, 2019.
Cooper has now been jailed for 10 months at Newcastle Crown Court and was disqualified from driving for 2 years 5 months.
Cann, who's from Newcastle, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking and is due to be sentenced in April.
Detective Constable Kate Bain, who led the investigation at Northumbria Police, describes the incident as 'callous' and has caused much distress to an innocent victim.
Det Con Bain said:
"Cooper has clearly had a callous plan of action to distract the victim in order to take the car keys and the car while Cann has knowingly travelled in a stolen vehicle.
“Their actions have potentially caused a danger to others and thankfully our colleagues in Cleveland were able to stop them in their tracks.
“The victim was kind-hearted enough to help Cooper in the shop yet Cooper has completely disregarded the victim’s good-nature by stealing from him.
“It is totally unacceptable and is absolutely right that both Cooper and Cann are convicted for their actions.”
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