Jail for Sutton thief who stole £20K car and sped away from police

The Audi e-tron was taken from outside an address on Ashfield Rise, Sutton, after keys, bank cards and mobile phones were stolen in a burglary at 1.50am on March 23, Nottingham Crown Court was told.Jamie Hill accelerated away when police saw him driving the Audi on Hamilton Road, Sutton, and he reached speeds of 70mph in a 30mph zone as he fled through an industrial estate.The court heard he crossed junctions blindly and without reducing his speed before bailing out on Leabrooks Avenue where he was found with the assistance of a police dog.He then told officers he was likely to collapse because of epilepsy.Within 40 minutes of the burglary two other men used the bank cards to buy £160 of tobacco, alcohol, scratch cards and snacks at Eastfield service station.The court heard Hill has 28 previous convictions for 60 offences.

Matthew Hayes said Hill's main mitigation was his guilty plea and it was a relatively short-lived pursuit."Thankfully he was not involved in a collision and no one was injured," he said. "He is not being prosecuted for the burglary. He was alone in the vehicle when he was driving it."He told police he bought it for a few hundred pounds and had it for a couple of hours before he was caught. This is not professional or sophisticated."I have to concede his antecedent record does him no favours and will be treated as an aggravating feature.Mr Hayes said Hill served a full prison sentence for burglary before he was released in February 2024 "without any structure or support"."He was homeless," he said. "When his benefits were finally organised he spent some of that money on the car. He now appreciates that was a reckless decision to make."Hill, aged 43, of no fixed address, admitted handling stolen goods and dangerous driving at a previous hearing.On Tuesday, Judge Nigel Godsmark KC sentenced him to 38 months in prison and disqualified him from driving for 18 months from his release date.