Delivery driver's car stolen while collecting food

A man who stole a delivery driver's car while it was parked outside a takeaway has appeared in court.

Ben Slater, 36, pinched the vehicle after it was left idling in Market Place, Thirsk, on 8 October, while the driver went to collect some orders.

North Yorkshire Police said Slater was arrested later the same night after officers spotted the stolen vehicle on the A1(M) and followed it to a petrol station in Boroughbridge.

At Harrogate Magistrates Court on Friday, Slater, of Lingfoot Crescent, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to stealing the car driving whilst disqualified, using a car without insurance and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

After admitting the offence he was ordered to pay a fine of £120, costs of £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service and a victim surcharge of £114.

He was also banned from driving for two years.

Det Insp Nick Hamer from North Yorkshire Police said: "Both the arresting officers and my colleagues have done a phenomenal job apprehending and charging Slater as quickly as they did.

"We know all too well the consequences of drink driving, but thankfully we intercepted before Slater could cause any harm."

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