Car thief led police on a 100mph chase

A CAR thief led police on a 100mph chase after stealing number plates, breaking into a house and taking a high-performance car, a court has heard.

Marcus Bounds, 29, carefully planned the theft, booking into a hotel for the night to use as a base, targeting similar cars to remove their plates, then going to a house where he knew the sporty VW Golf would be waiting.

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said in the early hours of August 1 Bounds stole number plates from VW Golfs outside the Sinclair garage on Fabian Way, Swansea, as well as plates from a Golf parked in Glais.

Also during the early hours Bounds broke into a house on Main Road in Bryncoch near Neath, smashing a window in the porch of the property and stealing car keys.

Two days later, a South Wales Police officer on patrol on the M4 near Llandarcy spotted a Golf matching the description of the stolen car but which was carrying plates stolen from the garage.

Bounds raced off at speeds touching 100mph. When Bounds got to the Sarn exit he turned left onto the A4063, and sped along the main road going through a red light.

But at the following roundabout he lost control, going straight over the traffic island and crashing into a hedge on the other side.

Bounds, of Lloyd Road, Treboeth, Swansea, admitted going equipped for theft, theft, burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock.

John Tarrant, for Bounds, said there were issues revolving around the defendant and his brother but there was little he could say on behalf of his client as “the defendant does not wish to advance any particular mitigation”.

Judge Huw Rees sentenced him to a total of 30 months in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for three years and three months.