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Man jailed over dumper truck chase that left police 'petrified'

This article is more than 8 years old

Nicholas Churchill was followed by six police cars and a helicopter for 40 miles across Norfolk and Suffolk while high on amphetamines

Police officers feared for their lives as a disgruntled labourer led them on a low-speed chase in a dumper truck while high on drugs, a court has heard.

Nicholas Churchill, 40, left a trail of destruction after taking the 20-ton earth-mover from his employer last July having complained about its air conditioning.

He was followed by six police cars and a helicopter for two hours and 40 miles across Norfolk and Suffolk, reaching a maximum speed of 30mph and ramming three patrol vehicles along the way.

Churchill pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking and driving while unfit through drugs. On Friday at Norwich crown court he was sentenced to 14 months in prison and banned from driving for two years.

Norfolk police released footage taken from the helicopter, CCTV and car-mounted cameras showing the truck veering wildly across busy roads, including the A140, A11 and A13, and dodging police roadblocks.

The truck ramming a police car. Photograph: PA

An officer who was involved in the chase said in a statement read to the court: “I thought I was going to die, I was petrified and never felt anything like this before in my career. I believe the vehicle was so large and heavy it could have driven over our police car.”

Another officer said: “In my 30-year career, I’ve been kicked, punched and spat at. I’ve never been so petrified.”

Andrew Oliver, prosecuting, said that after driving around the Norwich ring road, forcing cars to swerve out of his way, Churchill headed to the A11 dual carriageway. He repeatedly swerved in an “act of aggression” against police chasing him.

Officers deployed a stinger device to disable the truck but its tyres were so heavy that it did not work. Churchill then drove the truck towards an officer who was standing on a grass verge having deployed the stinger.

Shoppers scattered when the truck careered down a high street and over a pedestrianised square before coming to a halt near Churchill’s home in Brandon, Suffolk.

The damage caused to a police car by the truck. Photograph: PA

Oliver said Churchill had been working at a quarry near Spixworth, Norwich. He took off in the truck after being told that its air conditioning could not be fixed and he should carry on working.

In fact, 20 July was a mild day of about 13C and he felt hot because he had been taking amphetamines, Oliver added.

“This is in itself a dangerous vehicle to be driven on public roads – it is not allowed and was not insured to do so. It caused massive disruption and a massive involvement by Norfolk and Suffolk police. He put the lives of members of the public and police officers at risk,” the prosecutor said.

The damage to the police cars cost about £25,000 to repair.

Lindsay Cox, mitigating, said: “It may not have been hot that day but it had been a period of very hot weather and the defendant, for what’s it worth, had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction at doing hot work in the hot cab of this vehicle.

“He was effectively told ‘like it or lump it, carry on working or go home,’ and the red mist descended.”

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