Boy, 11, caught driving BMW down a motorway towing ‘stolen caravan’
Despite its plush, spacious interior, high-tech amenities and smart vertical skylight, the Bailey Phoenix caravan is probably fairly low down the list of things typical children covet.
But one nonconformist boy wanted one so badly he was ready to risk life and liberty to get his hands on it – allegedly.
Detectives tracking down a caravan hitched onto a car and stolen from a Yorkshire holiday site yesterday were able to intercept the vehicles on the M1 about 40 miles away.
They were ‘staggered’ to find that the driver of the car – a hefty four-wheel drive BMW X5, no less – was an 11-year-old child.
The car was fitted with fake number plates, and inside they found ‘equipment typically used by suspects to carry out thefts and a selection of vehicle registration plates’.
The boy was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including theft, burglary, going equipped for theft, and motoring offences including dangerous driving.
Sergeant Paul Cording of North Yorkshire Police said of the incident: ‘Even after over 23 years service, you come across things that you struggle to comprehend.’
The theft was reported at 3.30pm, suggesting the lad had either bunked off school or made an extraordinarily hasty exit from his last classes.
After questioning, he was released on bail pending further enquiries.
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