Dad caused dangerous, high-speed M1 chase & went wrong way around roundabout before crashing into cop car

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A dad-of-three with a string of driving convictions drove the wrong way around a roundabout after embarking on a ‘dangerous’ chase along the M1, and would have careered into oncoming traffic if he had not crashed into a police car.

23-year-old Charlie Crutchley, who has never held a full driving licence, was banned from driving and was subject to a suspended sentence for another set of driving offences when he attracted the attention of patrolling police officers as he drove a Ford Transit van at around 8.30am on June 24, 2024.

Prosecutor, Sam Magee, told Sheffield Crown Court during a hearing held on September 19, 2024 that Crutchley was on the M1 southbound, near Tankersley, Barnsley, when officers spotted, and began to pursue, him in their marked vehicle.

Describing what happened next, the judge, Recorder Andrew Walker, told Crutchley: “Police officers required you to stop your vehicle…instead of stopping, you ignored them.

“In fact, you increased your speed, it led to both you and officers speeding on the M1 southbound.”

“You were driving at 75 miles per hour (mph) in a 50 mph limit, because of road works.”

“You brake tested by braking harshly, so much so, smoke came off the tyres. A pursuing officer had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.”

The court heard how, in a bid to escape the police officers chasing him, Crutchley came off the M1 on a slip road near Catcliffe, on a road which links Sheffield Parkway with Rother Way.

“You went the wrong way around a roundabout and collided with a police car that had been waiting for you.

“If you hadn’t collided with the police car, you would have driven into oncoming traffic,” said Recorder Walker.

Mr Magee told the court that Crutchley, of Shelley Drive, Dinnington, Rotherham, fled from his vehicle on foot as soon as it came to a stop, and ‘made good his escape’.

He was arrested several weeks later on August 23, 2024, and the court was told how he tested positive for cocaine at that point, however he was not charged with any offence in connection.

Mr Magee told the court that Crutchley has a criminal record of 14 previous offences from six convictions, all of which relate to driving matters; and at the time of this most recent set of offences he was subject to a 16 week custodial sentence, which had been suspended for 18 months.

Following the June 2024 incident, Crutchley was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, offences of dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance at an earlier hearing.

Defending, Richard Barradell described Crutchley as a ‘young, immature man’ and suggested the offences he was to be sentenced for reflected that.

Mr Barradell told Recorder Walker that Crutchley had complied well with a previous court order to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and had quickly worked them off.

Describing how Crutchley came to commit the offences he was to be sentenced for, Mr Barradell said: “He wants to be a lorry driver, he loves driving, but that’s going to be something in the far future.”

“He could be a good worker if he could put this behind him. These stupid offences happened at 8.30 in the morning. He was moving something for someone, and was being paid for it.”

Mr Barradell said Crutchley is a ‘family man’ with three children, two of whom are not biologically his, but he cares for nonetheless.
Mr Magee told the court that Crutchley has a criminal record of 14 previous offences from six convictions, all of which relate to driving matters; and at the time of this most recent set of offences he was subject to a 16 week custodial sentence, which had been suspended for 18 months | SYP
He said Crutchley’s dad had also been in trouble for driving matters as a young man, and in a bid to help his son put his driving offences behind him like he has, had arranged some work for him upon his release from prison.

Recorder Walker jailed Crutchley for 14 months, two months of which was the activation of part of his suspended sentence, and banned him from driving for 31 months.

Explaining why he did not feel able to suspend Crutchley’s sentence, Recorder Walker said Crutchley’s pre-sentence report makes it clear he poses a ‘high risk of reoffending’ and was deemed to have ‘no prospect of rehabilitation’.

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