Car thief caught thanks to McDonald’s receipt

About two weeks later on Sunday 1 March, police recieved a report that car keys for a Citroen C3 Aircross had been stolen from an address on Brougham Square.

The following night, the thief returned and took the car.

On Wednesday 5 March, the car was spotted by officers, and another high-speed chase ensued.

The car reached speeds of about 60mph in a 20mph zone and travelled the wrong way around a roundabout, before joining the A5 on the wrong carriageway where it narrowly avoided a HGV.

The car stopped in a layby and Roberts fled before being arrested.

An investigation found that Roberts had fraudulently used bank cards belonging to the owner of the Citroen, to buy a McDonald's shortly after the vehicle was reported stolen.

"Not only was he driving stolen vehicles, Roberts was aware that he was driving whilst disqualified and his willingness to engage in such risk taking to evade capture on two separate occasions is something that caused officers great concern," said Det Cons Tom Clough.

"I am pleased with the sentence at court, which I hope gives the victims some sort of closure, as well as time for Roberts to reflect on how dangerous his actions were, which could have had tragic consequences given the lack of care for the safety of others and himself."