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A teen with an eye-watering 54 offences led police on a high-speed chase before his tyre exploded scattering debris over a dual carriageway.
Rio Duncan raced a stolen Astra along pavements and sped down the A2 near Canterbury, evading police before crashing into a grass verge.
Police pursue Duncan through Canterbury in a high-speed chase
Firefighters had to cut the 18-year-old from the written-off Vauxhall in Coldharbour Lane, Barham, which he stole after burgling a house in Margate.
Duncan was sentenced to 22 months detention at Canterbury Crown Court yesterday, for what one judge dubbed “the most dangerous” five-minute pursuit.
Judge O’Mahony added car thefts where keys are stolen from homes are on the rise, as vehicle security tightens, making them harder to hotwire.
The drama unfolded when Duncan burgled a home in Tivoli Park Avenue, swiping the owners’ car keys at about 12.30am.
When officers traced the stolen car at 2.10pm the same day, with Duncan behind the wheel, he took off down the A2 after driving on pavements and illegally overtaking cars.
Prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour explained: “The tyre exploded creating debris on the road, the car continued to swerve.”
The barrister explained Duncan came off the slip road Barham slip-road, lost control, hit a grass traffic island and then spun 360 degrees.
Firefighters then had to cut Duncan from the car before he was arrested on November 3.
Duncan pleaded guilty to burglary, aggravated vehicle-taking, dangerous driving, and driving without insurance or a licence at a previous hearing.
Mitigating Paul Hogben explained Duncan had an unstable upbringing with a significant amount of different foster parents.
The barrister explained his client has since found a stable home with caring, supportive parents.
Mr Hogben told judge James O’Mahony: “Your honour, it’s a bad record, this was a bad offence.
“The burglary is, of course, serious, the driving was appalling.
“He put his own life at risk, he put other people’s lives at risk.
“He asks you, your honour, through me, to keep it (the sentence) as short as possible.”
“He tells me he is more angry at myself for letting them (his parents) down and letting myself down.”
The judge sympathised with Duncan’s disadvantaged childhood and urged the defendant to accept his parents’ support.
But he emphasised public safety is of paramount importance and scalded the former Folkestone college painting and decorating trainee for “deliberately targeting the premises.”
The judge sentenced Duncan, of Sandyhurst Lane in Ashford, to 22 months in a Young Offenders’ Institute and banned him from driving for 35 months.
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