Burglar is caught by cops after car chase
A BURGLAR who led police on a high-speed chase across after raiding homes has been jailed.
Michael Doherty, 26, was pursued after breaking into a house in Cheshire.
He was eventually apprehended after a police car rammed his vehicle around 20 miles away in south Manchester.
Doherty came to the attention of officers after a burglary was reported on St Ann’s Road, Middlewich, at around 1pm.
Police were told Doherty had fled in a black Vauxhall Astra.
Officers flooded the area and the Astra was picked up by an unmarked police car on the M56 in Bowdon, near Altrincham.
Police followed the vehicle car as it travelled down the M56 towards Manchester then onto Princess Parkway and Whitchurch Road, heading towards Withington.
On Whitchurch Road the Astra began to accelerate, reaching speeds of up to 50mph in a 20mph zone. At one point officers pulled alongside the Astra and saw Doherty, who was banned from driving, sitting behind the wheel, along with a passenger, whose identity is not known.
On seeing the officers, Doherty once again sped off and a full police pursuit was authorised. During the chase Doherty sped through red lights and drove on the wrong side of a road, forcing other vehicles to swerve to avoid crashing into him.
The pursuit eventually came to an end on Hart Road near Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield after officers decided to make contact with him to force him to stop.
His passenger fled, and has not yet been traced, but Doherty was detained at the scene and arrested after the incident on Monday, July 16.
Evidence discovered subsequently also linked him to a second burglary at an address on Crewe Road in Sandbach in the early hours of Monday, June 16.
Doherty initially denied any involvement in the incidents.
Once at court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary, dangerous driving, driving whist disqualified and driving without insurance.
Doherty, of no fixed address, was jailed for three years and three months at a sentencing hearing at Chester Crown Court.
Speaking after the hearing, Det Con Scott Marshall-Bowater from Cheshire Police said: “I welcome the sentence that has been handed to Doherty and I hope that it acts as a warning for other potential offenders.
“Throughout this investigation it has been clear that Doherty has no regard for anyone other than himself.
“He targeted his victims in their own homes – the place they should be able to feel most safe.
“He then put the lives of innocent members of the public at risk as he drove dangerously on a number of roads across Greater Manchester.”