Rotherham fuel bandit in 100mph police chase

A DIESEL thief fled down country lanes at 100mph with police in hot pursuit.

James Chesterton (20) had been spotted siphoning fuel from a lorry with two other people before trying to escape in a VW car filled with barrels ready to be filled.

One police car had to give up the chase because it was too dangerous  — Chesterton, who was driving, jumped a red light —and the police helicopter had to be called in.

But his jail term was cut by Appeal Court judges this week.

They heard that Chesterton, who had an ‘appalling record’ involving cars, had been sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court last May to 37 months detention at Sheffield Crown Court in May, having pleaded guilty to theft, dangerous driving and a number of related driving offences.

Chesterton, of Green Acres, Rawmarsh, had also been ordered to serve 77 days time in jail which was unspent from a previous sentence.

The Appeal Court ruled that this part of his punishment should not stand after, although they rejected  his lawyers’ argument that he had not been given enough credit for his guilty plea.

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