Teenage burglar drove wrong way down M5, M6 and M54 in 100mph chase

Mitchell Humphries drove at high speed in a stolen car through Walsall, the M5, M6 and M54 after being spotted by officers at around 12.45am on November 4 last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

He travelled “at excess of 100mph” the wrong way down all three motorways, with a female passenger, for a distance of seven miles, including driving the wrong way up the M54 slip road.

He escaped officers who gave up the chase after losing sight of the car.

The 19-year-old, of Alamein Road in Portobello, Walsall, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

This came at the beginning of a three-month period where Humphries went on a rampage of burglaries and car thefts across the Black Country.

From November last year until January 2019 the teenager stole seven cars, including Audi, Mercedes and Fiesta models and committed six home burglaries.

He admitted all of the offences, including nine counts of attempted burglary with intent to steal and breach of a community order.

Planning

Judge Rhona Campbell said: “These are dedicated, applied and professional burglaries.

“You were planning and targeting valuable vehicles and made quick disposal of the licence plates.

“It demonstrates the level of planning and foresight that you were showing.

“I have no doubt that if you were older you would receive a harsher sentence.

“It only takes a moments thought to assess the realistic risk of your driving to your life, your passenger’s life and other driver’s lives.

“It was a horrendous piece of driving.

“If you weren’t 19 it would be a lot longer and I take into account that your upbringing has been a difficult one.”

Humphries, who had two previous convictions for dangerous driving, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison and has been disqualified from driving for five years.