Robbers stole car and used it to ram police vehicle

Three burglars were sentenced to a total of eight years in prison for stealing a Range Rover from a home and ramming a police car with it as they later tried to escape.

Daniel David Laverty, 28, of Maskelyne Close, Wandsworth was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and no insurance on Monday, 6 August.

Luke Richie McIlroy, 32, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to two years and one month’s imprisonment. He had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, shoplifting and aggravated vehicle taking as a passenger on Thursday, 1 February at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.

Jonathon McAuliffe, 25, of Cairns Place, Streatham was sentenced to two years and one month’s imprisonment. He pleaded guilty on Saturday, 3 February at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court to burglary and aggravated vehicle taking as a passenger.

Kingston Crown Court heard last week [Friday, 17 August] that at on Wednesday, 31 January, at approximately 5am, the three men broke into a house on Westbridge Road in Battersea. As the occupants slept, the men took handbags, clothing, laptops and car keys before stealing the victims’ Range Rover from their driveway.

Later that day, at around 8am, McIlroy stole four cans of lager and a bottle of vodka from a newsagents on Wimbledon Road. He made off in a green Range Rover, along with Laverty and McAuliffe who had been waiting in the car. The shop keeper called police with the vehicle’s registration.

Officers who were nearby on Parkside Avenue spotted the car and pursued them as they drove at speed on the wrong side of the road, mounting the pavement into Wimbledon Common in a bid to escape. When the car was stopped by traffic at the traffic lights, it was reversed and rammed into the police vehicle injuring both officers.

One of the officers was taken to a South London hospital by the London Ambulance Service; both suffered back injuries.

The men then drove away and were spotted by officers on Woodhayes Road, Wimbledon. Officers pursued the Range Rover until eventually the men abandoned it near Hampton Close.

Officers and a police dog chased the men on foot, catching and arresting McAuliffe and McIlroy. Laverty was later identified as the driver of the vehicle; he was charged on Sunday, 11 February.

PC Mat Sullivan, from the CID based at the South West Command Unit, said: “The three burglars broke into a home and stole the victims’ car. When seen by police, they drove off at speed putting officers and nearby road users at risk as they tried to make good their escape.

“These sentences will be a clear message to those who commit burglary in London.”